Blooming
by neko-in-blue
Summary: The sweetness of first love. Echizen Ryoma x Ryuzaki Sakuno
1. Chapter 1

The unusual rain was falling heavily, shaking the sakura flowers outside. A thunder crossed the skies and the 7-ýear-old boy crouched down, trying to deal with his fear. He had dark green eyes and fluffly red hair with bangs covering his forehead.

He looked through the windows one more time, waiting anxiously.

The electricity on the house was cut and the little food they had was spoiled on the refrigerator. The rent was due for a week and there was already a notification on their door.

The teenager girl rose from the ground between the shadows. She couldn't take it anymore. She was hungry and tired, but the worse thing was seeing her little brother still so hopeful. Only the lamp coming from the corridor outside was illuminating the place. She took a deep breath, before opening the wardrobe and picking up some clothes, putting them inside their backpacks.

"Nee-chan, what are you doing?" He asked, coming close.

"We are leaving." She responded, seriously. "Now."

"We can't! I'm sure Kaa-san is coming back any minute now!"

His words stopped when his older sister kneeled in front of him and touched his shoulders, making him look at her. She had scarlet eyes and long hair of the same color. She looked at him seriously.

"She is not coming back, Shinji! Kaa-san left us for good this time! She abandoned us!"

Big tears formed on the corner of his eyes.

"Don't cry." She cupped his face gently, trying to hold back her own tears. "We are going to be fine. We don't need her. I've always take care of you, right?"

"Ye...yes."

"We need to go away. The landlord is probably calling the police and child services if we stay here."

"Where are we going?"

"I will find us a place. But we really need to get out of here."

"Okay." He sniffed, before drying his eyes and starting to help her out with his clothes as well.

When they were finally ready, Sakuno fixed her brother's small jacket on his body, pulling the hood and took a last look on the place. It was a very small apartment with only one room, the only thing their mother could afford. There was no furniture except a small table and they had to sleep cramped on the small living room and share an even smaller bathroom. Even so, it was the last place they called home and her heart hurt a little before she closed that door for the last time.

#############

Their mother was always leaving her jobs out of the blue, drinking and spending time with shady guys. Sakuno still could remember when they were a happy family, many years ago. But, she cheated on their father when Shinji was not even two years old and he left them.

Sakuno tried to look for him many times, but it was in vain. He would never pick up his cell phone and completely turned his back on his children, so she was forced to become a replacement parent to Shinji.

She was the one who was there when he was sick or sad, missing their mother. She would hold him tight and caress his hair, singing lullabies to him. She was the one who took him for the first day at public day care, even though she was still a child herself.

As soon as she was fifteen, she started half time jobs and was able to help around the house when their mother forgot about food or paying some bills. She never had anything to herself, even when there was a little money left; she preferred to buy Shinji's new clothes or toys. She always tried her best to shelter her younger brother from their harsh reality.

############

It was already late at night, the rain still persisted. They ate some obento on sale on a convenience store and took a bath on a public house near. The little adventure had already brought back Shinji's smile and Sakuno was happy.

Sakuno was able to afford a room in a small hotel. She lied to the old lady, saying their mother would meet them there soon. Shinji was sleeping holding his sister tight and she was caressing his soft hair. It was just a small pause inside all the craziness of their life, but she was still so glad her brother was fed, warm and safe.

She looked at the white and green uniform hugging on the wall and smiled a little. After studying so hard, she was approved at Seigaku with a full scholarship for the second and third year of high school.

It was her prize after so much dedication. Sakuno was not able to make any friends during all her years at school. She was always too busy with Shinji to go play or have snacks at a friend's house. She didn't remember the last time she had a birthday celebration. She spent all her free time studying. The girl had set her mind on going to college, having a good job and supporting her brother and she was already on the right path.

"I will always take care of you." She whispered, before kissing his forehead and finally allowing herself to sleep as well.

##############

Nanjirouh yawned while he swept the front porch of the temple. It was almost 8 o'clock in the morning. He was so sleepy.

"Ah, excuse me." The polite voice made him look to the entrance. Sakuno was there, already with the Seigaku uniform and her back. She also had a flyer on her hand. "Good morning, I came because of the job."

She had woken up very early with Shinji. They had a bath, changed clothes and had breakfast before she took him to school, since it was a little far from Seigaku.

"Eh?" he was really surprise to see someone so young. Coming down the stairs, he analyzed her, standing in front of the girl. "I think there is a misunderstanding, I need someone to live here for six months and take care of the place, so…"

"I can do it." he noticed she was a little anxious. "I am really responsible and I need somewhere to stay, please."

"Are you running from your parents on a rebellious phase? I don't want any problems."

"What?! Not at all! I don't have any parents, it's just me and my little brother." She really didn't like to talk about her private, but she had no choice. "Please, you won't regret it. I will work really hard." She pulled a paper from her pocket. "This is the contact of my current employer at the part time job. You can use him as reference."

He took the paper and looked at it for a while, before looking at her again.

"How old are you? And your brother?"

"I'm 17, he is 7. He is a really good boy, he will not damage the place, I promise."

"You have school and already a part time job, how can you handle taking care of the temple?"

"I will do it at nights if I have to!" she was very determinate.

"And what time would you study and sleep?"

"I am already used to sleep late and wake up early, it will not be a problem."

Nanjirouh scratched his hair for a moment; thinking and then he looked at her with a grin.

"I will give you two weeks of trial. If you can really do it properly, you can have the job."

"Thank you so much!" she smiled happily. "Can we come by the evening?"

"Sure. I live on the house next door. Come and have dinner with us. My name is Echizen Nanjirouh. My wife is an awesome cook."

"Thank you for the invitation." She bowled respectfully.

"So, you go to Seigaku, right? My kid also goes there. Maybe you will see each other."

Ryoma woke up on his room with a sneeze. He scratched his black hair and moaned a little, before looking at the alarm clock and slowly getting up from his bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakuno was happy. How long has it been since she felt so happy?! Her classes had ended already and she was going out from school to pick up her brother.

The homeroom teacher was very nice and congratulated her about the scores on the tests for the scholarship.

Since it was the first day to everyone, she didn't have to stand in front of school and introduce herself, like she did it before so many times when her mother's lack of commitment with rent and jobs would force her to change schools during the course of semesters.

She sat in the middle of the class and didn't take her eyes from the teachers. Her notebook was already full of things to study later. She didn't talk to any of the new classmates, but it didn't matter. She was not there to make friends, she was there to study, have good grades and graduate with honors to achieve a good university.

"Shinji will be so happy." She smiled to herself. They had a place to go on that night. A ceiling over their heads, a proper house with electricity, a working fridge and running water!

"Please, Ryoma! I just want to talk to you." The feminine voice interrupted her conversation with herself and she found it strange.

"There is nothing for us to talk about." The serious voice responded. They were on the back garden of the school and Sakuno stopped by the wall, not wanting to appear on that awkward situation.

Sakuno moved her head a little and she took a peek. There was a girl with short brown hair reaching her shoulders and eyes of the same color. She had a pained expression. The tall boy in front of her with a displeased look on his handsome face had black hair and golden eyes.

"I sent you so many messages during winter break, you never reply them."

"I thought you would take a hint." His tone of voice was so dry. "How many times do I have to tell you, Tomoka? I don't want to talk to you."

"Ryoma, please." Her dark eyes were already glistering with tears. "What can I do? Do you want me to apologize again? I will do it, one hundred, a million times. Just… don't look at me this way." She came close and touched his face with both hands and Sakuno blushed, hiding on the wall again. It was a lovers' quarrel!"

" _Don't they have another place to do that_?!" she thought to herself. " _I'm going to get late to pick up Shinji_!"

"I've bought something for you, on your birthday." She said, gently. "I wanted to give to you in person."

"Throw it away in the trash." He said, distancing himself from her and walking away in hard steps.

He turned around and Sakuno was there, standing still in front of him. She wanted to die; her whole face was burning in embarrassment.

There was a second of surprise on his face but soon the boy just went past her without saying anything, like she was invisible.

############

Shinji's green eyes were wide in absolute awe. He couldn't remember the last time they had such a beautiful dinner. They were on the Echizen's residence, sitting on the dining table. Rinko was the one who opened the door for them and the little boy was very shy. She smiled before Najioruh appeared too and grinned at them, making her brother at ease with his jokes.

She was helping to put the food on the table when their son arrived at the kitchen. Rinko smiled and introduced them to her. Echizen Ryoma. The boy who put a girl on the edge of tears just a couple of hours ago. He was fresh from the bath and the dark bangs of his hair were still a little wet.

He greeted them politely and so normally like he had never seen Sakuno before, even thought the girl whole body was completely stiff when seeing him again.

Nanjirouh was sitting on the head of the table and Ryoma sat by his mother's side across from them. Sakuno wondered if he was always that serious and quiet.

"Here you go, Shinji-chan." Rinko smiled, after serving the boy. It was a simple meal, but the smell was amazing. There were hamburger with a glazy sauce, rice and green salad.

The boy blinked twice, before picking his hashi.

"Shinji, don't you have something to say to Echizen-san?" Sakuno asked, gently. Her brother was a very well-behaved boy, but he was so anxious about the food he forgot his manners a little.

"Thank you for the food!" he said, enthusiastically. He took a bite of the hamburger and looked at his sister, with a big smile on his face while chewing. "Nee-chan, it is so good!"

"Don't speak with your mouth full." She said, softly cleaning the side of his mouth with a napkin to remove a bit of sauce.

"Isn't her food amazing, Shinji-chan?" Nanjirouh asked, proudly. The boy moved his head positively in fast movements. Sakuno smiled at her brother, before putting her palms together.

"Thank you for the food." She started to eat and she felt her chest clench. It was incredible! There was nothing like a homemade meal made from a mother.

"Ryoma, how was school today? Anything interesting happened?"

"Not really." He responded, looking at his food.

"Ryuzaki-san is studying at Seigaku as well. Did you see each other today there?"

"Yes." He answered after a couple of seconds, finishing eating some rice. Finally looking at her, he completed. "She is in my class, sitting in front of me."

"Eh?" she was really surprised. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you."

"It's okay. You seemed much focused on class. Even the boring ones." He said, sincerely, but there was no change of expression in his face while he returned to eat.

"When Nee-chan is studying she doesn't pay attention to anyone. The whole world could fall on her head." His sentence, while still eating, made the adults chuckle.

"So, Ryuzaki-san, are you sure you want to live on that old temple?" Rinko asked, serving herself from a little more salad. "It is a lot of work to keep that place."

"I am, Echizen-san." She looked at Rinko seriously. "I understand it is a unusual situation and I really appreciate the vote of confidence. But, Shinji and I need a place to stay and also some extra money. I will do my very best."

"I know it is a private matter, but, can I ask about your parents?" Nanjirouh asked. "Are you two really alone?"

Ryoma noticed she looked at her brother a little worried. He had already finished his meal.

"Hey, do you want to take a look at my videogame?" the teen asked.

"Oh!" he looked at his sister. "Can I, Nee-chan?!"

"Yes. But, behave yourself." She caressed his hair before they stood up and she silently thanked Ryoma.

Sakuno took a deep breath, her head down.

"My mother cheated on my father when Shinji was very young. So, he left home. Before going, he said he couldn't look at Shinji's face and not being sure he was his son or not."

"I'm really sorry." Rinko said.

"I tried to call him a lot. There were so many times our mother left us alone in scary situations, I just wanted someone to help us. But, he never picked up his phone. I gave up on trying contacting him when I was old enough to solve things myself."

"And your mother? Does she know where you two are now?"

"No." she raised her face and looked at Nanjirouh. "She just doesn't care about us."

He took a deep breath and crossed his arms.

"You have been very strong, Ryuzaki-san. No one so young like you guys should go through such a thing."

"I just want Shinji to be okay." She showed him a small smile. "I want him to have a regular, safe childhood. That is my duty as his big sister."

"You're a wonderful big sister." Rinko smiled at her. "We are glad to help you in any way."

"Can I ask you a question? Why do you need someone to take care of the temple for six months?"

"We are going to travel." Nanjirouh smiled. "Rinko is a top photographer and she is doing a series of shoots across Japan. I'm going with her."

"Ryoma doesn't have any interest." She shrugged.

"I will take good care of it, you can trust me!"

#########

Sakuno took a deep breath in front of Ryoma's room. She had helped with the dishes and talked a little more with the Echizens, but it was Shinji's bedtime already and they had to go.

But, before she could call for him, the teenager appeared with her little brother on his arms, his face on his shoulder.

"He fell asleep while playing. I was going to take him to you." He whispered.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" she whispered back, before picking him up from his shoulders and carrying him herself.

"Nee-chan?" the little boy said, sleepy.

"It's okay, we're going already." She said, gently.

"Can you really carry him all the way to the temple?"

"I'm used to." She was about to turn around when his voice stopped her.

"Ryuzaki-san?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"What for?"

"For not saying anything about what you saw today when my father asked about school."

"Don't mention it. It was not really my place." She blushed and averted her eyes. "And, I'm sorry too, it was not my intention to eavesdrop."

"I couldn't apologize because I was embarrassed. Tomoka should know better than making such scenes." She noticed a slight frown on his forehead.

"That is okay. Well, I need to go now. Good night, Echizen-kun."

"Good night." He said, before she turned around and started to walk away from him.


	3. Chapter 3

Sakuno woke up with the sound of the alarm clock. It was a Saturday, so she allowed herself to sleep until a little late from her usual time. It was 7 o'clock and she smiled looking at the ceiling. She was inside the new and clean futon Nanjirouh had bought her and Shinji. She smelled the soft covers every day, still not believing she was surrounded by new and clean bedclothes.

The two weeks of trial went by smoothly and she was hired for real, feeling extremely happy for the Echizen's trust on her.

Every day she woke up at 5 o'clock to clean the temple and take care of the garden. After that, she cooked their meals before waking Shinji up. The little boy would take a shower and get ready to school. They would eat together, before Sakuno drop him on his school.

Since the salary Nanjirouh was offering was good, she was able to drop her part time job after the two weeks and she was immensely happy. She hated to leave Shinji alone in the house and, that way, she could enjoy dinner with him, help her brother with homework and kiss him goodnight.

She studied until midnight before going to bed and her days revolve on that routine.

"Okay, time to wash the clothes!" she said to herself, before getting up. She was using a light blue pajama and her long hair was loose. She went to the bathroom and started to collect the dirty clothes they used on the week.

Nanjirouh had bought a second hand washing machine and dryer for them to use. Sakuno was happy to not spend money on Laundromats, since the last washing machine her mother had was broken for many months. Having clean, soft clothes were a privilege that many people took it for granted.

Sakuno was more than grateful for everything going well on their lives. She hoped those hard days would only be a faraway memory someday.

###########

"So, how's Seigaku?" the tall young man with spiky black hair and purple eyes asked. They were on his room, playing videogames and it was night already.

"The same." He said, pushing some buttons, his eyes not wavering from the tv screen.

"You're boring as ever." He grinned. Momoshiro Takeshi had graduated two years before and was studying architecture at the university. He and Ryoma were still good friends, they exchanged messages and would see each other from time to time, to play videogames, eat some pizza or just talk.

"And you're bad as always." He replied, calmly, surpassing his car on the game.

"How about the new girl living at your place? Ryuzaki-san, right?" Ryoma had mentioned the teenager and her little brother. He and Shinji were already in very good terms on those two weeks.

"What about her?"

"How is she like?"

"Regular, I think."

"What kind of response is that?!"

"But she is. I don't even talk to her much. She is always busy. At school, on lunch break, she stays on her desk studying. She doesn't talk to anyone there."

"It must be hard, her situation. Being so young and having to take care of herself and her brother."

"Hm." He agreed. Sometimes he wondered if she was able to sleep at all.

"And how about you and Tomoka? Did you talk to each other again?"

"She keeps following me at school." He said, displeased. "I don't know what to do anymore."

"She must feel very guilty."

"She should. Not that it will change anything."

"Well, but, don't you think you're being a little mean?"

"What?" he paused the game and looked at Takeshi, a deep frown on his face.

"She is apologizing for a while now. And it's not like you were devastated. You told me yourself you wanted to break up before it happened! Are you really so upset you don't want to talk to her? Would you even care if you had not seen it?"

He stood up and he was terribly serious. He placed the joystick on the furniture near.

"Hey, where are you going?!"

"Home. It's late." He picked up the box of pizza with half of the remaining slices and closed it. He brought it for them to have a snack while playing. "And I am taking this with me."

"Ryoma, wait up, you don't have to leave, I'm sorry!" Takeshi tried to stop him, but the teenager already left, closing the door behind him. "Ah, such a blockhead!"

#################

"So, what do you want to eat tomorrow for lunch?" Sakuno asked, while gently combing her little brother's hair on his room. They were on his futon. He had just finished his bath and was wearing a blue pajama with small sheep on it.

"Can we have the fried chicken we bought yesterday?!"

"Good idea." She hugged him and kissed his cheek. The little boy giggled. "And we can have pudding for desert. The ones we bought on sale." Even though money was better, she was still only buying things with discounts. "Go to bed now. Tomorrow we will review your homework of the week."

"Yes!" he laid down and covered himself quickly.

"Shinji, are you happy here?" her brother was very sensible for his age and she knew he would hold back his own needs sometimes.

"I'm really happy, Nee-chan." He smiled. "This is the best home ever!"

"Really?" she caressed his hair.

"Yes." He closed his eyes after yawning. "I just wanted Kaa-san to be here with us as well."

"I know." Sakuno had a hint of sadness on her smile. "Good night, Shinji. I'm going to take a bath, but call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay. Good night, Nee-chan."

##############

Ryoma entered the temple with the pizza on his hands, going through the small gate that connected it with his back garden. He knew Shinji would like it. Since it was a little after his sleep time, he wanted to give Sakuno so she could put it on the fridge for the other day.

"Ryuzaki-san?" he called on the entrance. There was a light on so he knew she was home.

Sakuno had finished her bath, but she forgot to bring her clothes. She dried herself with the towel and put it around her body, leaving the bathroom to pick up her pajama on the laundry room.

"Ryuzaki-san?" Ryoma called again, already on the hallways, listening to some steps.

He followed the sound to the laundry room.

"Ryuzaki-san, are you there, I…" his words stopped when seeing Sakuno standing in front of the clean laundry basket and the pizza box reached the ground.

She was wearing nothing but white panties and her long red hair was over her breasts and naked torso. She had light green pajamas on her hands, about to put them on.

The scarlet eyes were wide and frozen in absolute shock and the girl's mortified scream echoed throughout the old temple.


	4. Chapter 4

"What are you doing here?!" Sakuno shouted from inside the laundry room. In a instinctive move, she threw a box of laundry soap on his face and smashed the door close. Her whole body was trembling in shock and embarrassment. Her hands were shaking and she was still trying to dress herself.

"I came to bring that pizza to Shinji." He responded, rubbing his forehead. It was really hurting!

"Why didn't you call before entering?!"

"I called three times. And the front door was wide opened. You really should lock it at night."

"I was going to do it after my bath!" she responded with clenched teeth.

"I'm really sorry." he was sincere. "I just… thought Shinji would like it."

Sakuno looked at the ruined pizza on the floor and she felt bad for him.

"I have no interest on seeing you naked, Ryuzaki-san." He wanted to convey his regret, but it only made the girl blush profusely.

"Get out! Get out, get out!"

##############

"So, we are off!" Nanjirouh smiled. Another week had passed and he and Rinko were all ready to leave for the airport. Sakuno and Shinji were on their house to say goodbye.

"Ryoma, there is plenty of food in the kitchen, I am going to do weekly deposits for your expenses on the house, okay? Use the card of the account we opened for you. If you need any help on groceries or cooking ask Ryuzaki-san, she is very good at it." He looked at her but she averted her eyes. After so many days she still didn't forgive him and they were not talking at all.

Rinko smiled at the girl.

"Sakuno-san, if you need anything, you can call us from the phone in our place or use Ryoma's cell phone.

"Understood, Echizen-san." She replied, gently.

"Shinji-chan, I'm going to make you responsible for these two, okay?" Nanjirouh messed his hair a little. "Take care of them."

"Yes!" The little boy grinned.

"Come here." Rinko hugged her son tightly. "Be well. If you need anything, send us a message. And call me from time to time so I can hear your voice."

"Okay." The golden eyes were kind.

"Bye, kids! Behave yourselves!"

The children waved goodbye when they entered the car.

"Ryuzaki-san, I…" Sakuno turned her back to him as soon as his parents left, like he was invisible.

"Shinji, I'm going back home to prepare lunch."

"Yes, Nee-chan!" he was about to follow her when he stopped with Ryoma's grip on his shirt. The boy turned around surprised. "Ryoma-nii, what's wrong?"

"Hey, Shinji." He crouched down to the boy's height and put his hands on his small shoulders. "Can you help me out? Your sister is mad at me."

"What did you do?"

"Something bad." He lowered his head. "But I didn't want to do it, it was an accident. I tried to apologize a lot, but she doesn't even let me do it properly."

"Hmmm." He had a thoughtful expression. "Once I used her notebook as sketching paper. She was really mad at me." The little boy whispered. "Nee-chan can be really scary sometimes."

"How did you manage to fix that?"

"I gave her cookies." He smiled and Ryoma showed him a small smile with his innocent response.

"Well, it's something." The teenager rubbed his hair. "Thank you. Go to the temple now, she is probably waiting for you."

"Okay! Bye bye Ryoma-nii!" he said, before running to the place.

Ryoma took a deep breath, before returning to his house.

##############

A couple of days went by and they were still not talking. It was physical education time and their class was on the track. They were going to run a little. The boys were on the other side of the track, looking at the girls stretching. Ryoma was sitting there, completely uninterested.

"Hey, look at Ryuzaki-san!" a boy said. "She always looks so good on those clothes!" she was wearing a white t-shirt with shorts a little above her knees. The girl was taller than most on their class, but she was still shorter than Ryoma. She was thin but fit, probably from doing so much housework. Her long hair was tight on a ponytail and she was stretching by herself.

"People are calling her the ice queen." Another guy on his class replied. "She already received two confession letters on her locker. She ripped them apart and threw in the garbage."

"Wow, that is savage!"

"She doesn't speak to anyone at school, just with the teachers. I think she hates us."

"Hey, Ryuzaki-san!" a teen waved at her, but Sakuno just turned around with a terrible, murderous glare, the scarlet eyes dead serious and all the boys froze with fear.

Ryoma smiled to himself, remembering Shinji's words. She could be, indeed, very scary.

##############

The classes had already finished and Ryoma was waiting for Sakuno outside the class while she was collecting her things. She was always the last one to leave. The girl was already at the door when he stood in front of her with a box of cookies, in the empty hallways, looking serious at her.

"What do you want?!" she blushed and averted her eyes with the intensity he looked at her.

"It's an apology." He lowered his head. "Please, accept it."

There was a long moment of silence after she picked the object from his hands and Ryoma was sure she would throw it on his face again. He was already preparing himself for the pain and her adorable giggle reached his ears and he looked up.

"Are you a child by any chance?" it was the first time she smiled at him and he found her extremely adorable. "Why cookies?"

"I ask Shinji to help me out. He said it worked."

"So you took advices from a child." she was amused.

"I'm really sorry about what happened, Ryuzaki-san. I really am. I don't want you thinking I'm a pervert."

"I don't think such a thing." She looked at him gently. "I was just… embarrassed."

"Do you forgive me? I will never enter your home without you noticing me. I will even bang on the floor if I have to."

"You're forgiven, Echizen-kun. And thank you for the cookies." she was a little shy. "I'm sorry for hurting your head."

"That's okay, it didn't hurt much. Can I go back home with you? You still have to pick up Shinji at school, right?"

"He will be happy if you come." She hugged the little box, before they walked on the hallways together.

##############

"Ah! Nee-chan and Ryoma-nii!" he ran happily to the school gates after seeing them. "You've made up, right? I told you the cookies would work!"

"Thank you very much." Ryoma rubbed his hair and he giggled.

"Let's go home? We are having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner."

"Yey! Ryoma-nii, are you having dinner with us too?"

"Well, I…" he didn't want to impose.

"You can come." Sakuno looked at him kindly. "Your mother asked me to not let you starve to death. She said you are a horrible cook and you would probably eat burned food."

"Then, I will take the food so you won't use yours. There is plenty at my place.

"Deal." She smiled.

They walked side by side, with Shinji happily talking to them, in the middle of the sunset colors on that afternoon that would come to an end soon.


	5. Chapter 5

"What's wrong?" Ryoma sat in front of Sakuno's desk after he finished eating and returned to class. It was lunch time so the classroom was empty. The girl was with paper and pencil, doing some calculation. She had a frown on her face, looking at the numbers.

Some weeks had passed quickly and it was almost summer break. Ryoma and Sakuno became closer on those past days. They would walk together to school and returned home in each other's company with Shinji. They also shared meals and ate together at home. He would help Shinji with homework while she was taking care of the temple or studying and Sakuno was really grateful for his help.

"I'm doing some budget for the month." She took a deep breath. "Shinji asked me to enroll on swimming lessons for the summer. Even though the fee is cheap, I will have to postpone something I was saving for."

"What is it?"

"A cell phone."

"Can I ask you something? I know it's impolite, but, is money still tight for you guys?"

"Oh, not at all." She smiled. "It's the first time I'm not saving pennies for the month. But, I'm saving for something big, so…"

"Something big?"

"An apartment. Actually, the rent for an apartment during a year. Since I'm only staying for six months at the temple, I already have to think about what we are going to do next. And, it's about time me and Shinji have a proper place."

Ryoma patted the top of her head and she blushed, distancing herself a little.

"What are you doing?!"

"You're such a mature kid, worrying about such things. I was praising you." He said with a straight face.

She blushed even more and averted her eyes.

"Don't do that, please!"

"I feel bad sometimes, you're already behaving like an adult and you're very capable. The only thing I have to worry about is school."

"That is how life is supposed to be. Don't feel bad." She smiled gently at him. "Be grateful you have such good parents that take care of you properly."

"Shinji is very lucky to have you too." He showed her a small smile.

############

Ryoma met with Sakuno on her locker. She was taking two extra books home to study and he was waiting for her to change her shoes while holding them.

"What do you want to eat for dinner today?" she asked him, changing one shoe.

"Let Shinji decide. He ilikes to do it."

"Okay, then." She was done and stood up from the bench. There were some other kids around, but, when they were about to leave, a tall boy with blond hair and unfriendly face got close to them.

"Hey, Ryuzaki!" he shouted, angrily.

"Yes?" she turned around and looked at the unknown teenager seriously. Ryoma looked at him with a frown on his face.

"My friend wrote you a confession letter." He pointed to a shy boy on the other side of the room with a heartbroken expression. "And you tossed it in the garbage!"

"I'm not interested." Sakuno picked up her books from Ryoma's arms and was about to leave when the boy stood in front of her.

"You really think you are better than everyone, right?! You could at least talk to him and rejected him properly!"

"I'm not interested." She repeated.

He pushed her from her shoulders and she took some steps back.

"Hey!" Ryoma was about to intervene when Sakuno blocked him with her back.

"You look at everyone here with contempt just because you got a full scholarship. But, let me tell you something, you can have all the brains and it will mean nothing if you aren't a good person with a frozen heart treating people like that!"

The books reached the ground before Sakuno punched the boy hard on his face, making him fall on the lockers of the other side. He was frozen in absolute shock. The whole place was dead silent. Sakuno's hair was loose on that day and the red bangs were in front of her face, just one scarlet eye showing, a terrible glare over the boy.

She got close to him and grabbed him by his shirt, bringing his face close.

"If you ever touch me again or treat anyone like that, I'm going to break your neck with a baseball bat."

He couldn't say anything, just looking terrified at her.

"Girls were not made to please boys! I don't have any obligation on reply to anyone who has a crush on me! I didnt ask for it!" she looked at the other boy and he was about to cry. "If you wanted to talk to me, you should have come to me, not act like a coward sending your buddy to solve things for you!"

Sakuno released the teenager and looked at everyone around her.

"Stop sending me those damn confession letters! I have no intention of dating anyone! I have more important things to do than wasting my time with boys! I hope I made myself clear!"

#############

"Here." Ryoma placed the ice on her hand, over her bruised knuckles. They were already at home and Shinji was sitting by her side. Ryoma told him what happened on school.

"Nee-chan, is it hurting a lot?"

"Not at all, Shinji." She smiled, trying to undo his worried face. "I will be fine."

"Shinji, why don't you go take a shower while we finish here?" Ryoma asked, gently. "It's almost dinner time."

"Okay." He stood up and rubbed his sister's forearm. "Pain, pain, go away."

"Isn't he sweet?" Sakuno asked, after her brother left to the bathroom.

"Why did you do such a thing?' Ryoma asked, applying the ice, his head down.

"What do you mean? Did you see how disrespectful that guy was?!"

"You're a girl." he looked at her seriously. "Even being strong, what if he was with other guys? They could really done bad things to you. You cannot behave like that, you're still a girl. What about Shinji? Did you even think about him? Look how worried he is. What if something worse happened to you? He would be all alone."

She lowered her head, realizing her mistake, but before she could say anything, Ryoma touched her fingers and squeezed it gently.

"I'm sorry. Even though I was there, I couldn't help you at all. I was totally useless." He had such pained expression on his golden eyes, Sakuno felt even guiltier.

"Ah, don't worry about that! I'm really grateful for your help right now. I'm sorry I made you worry too, Echizen-kun." She averted her eyes. "You were right. I wasn't thinking. It's just… everything in my life is so difficult already, I just… couldn't take that guy's crap silently."

He looked at her surprised and chuckled.

"I would never imagine you would use such word. The teachers would be shocked."

"I'm sorry!" she blushed slightly while Ryoma continued to gently apply ice and take care of her hand.


	6. Chapter 6

Ryoma and Sakuno were on the teacher's room. Their homeroom teacher had called them in because of what happened on the day before. He was in front of them with crossed arms, sititng on his desk and a deep frown on his forehead.

"Ryuzaki-san, I'm very disappointed in you. How could you do such a thing?"

"She didn't do anything; the guy came and pushed her out of nowhere." Ryoma said, seriously.

"You aren't on the right to say anything too, Echizen-san. Why were you in the middle of such a mess?" he touched his forehead with his fingers. "Unfortunately, I'm going to be obligated to put this on your permanent record, Ryuzaki-san. It will be no good for your college scholarship application."

"Sensei, please!" she held her hands tightly.

"Sensei, Sakuno didn't do anything. I was the one who punched the guy."

Sakuno looked at him surprised.

"Look at her." He placed his hand on the top of her head. Ryoma was taller than her by almost 8 inches. He had a growth spurt when he was 15. "She is short and weak, she is harmless. Do you really think she could do such a thing?" he was lying with a straight face! "Please, don't punish her. She was only by my side. If you want to put something in the record, put on mine. But, that guy was really violent towards her. He deserved it."

"Okay, then. You two are off the hook this time. But, please, no more problems from now on!"

##############

Ryoma took a deep, relieved breath when they went out of the room, leaning on the wall.

"I was so nervous."

"Eh?!"

"I've never lied before." He closed his eyes. "I thought I would die."

"Why did you do that?! You were going to have something bad on your permanent record!"

"Shinji told me you want to be a doctor." He looked at her. "So you will need to go to a good university and have a good scholarship. Your record can't be tainted. It was the least I can do, since at that time, I couldn't help you at all."

"Echizen-kun…." She was very touched. "I'm so sorry I put you in the middle of this. It's just… I was bullied a lot on school, because I was always changing schools and I used old clothes, so, when that guy pushed me, I snapped. I got this bad side from my mother. I'm really sorry."

"Don't mention it." He showed her a small smile. "Just take care of me for free when you become an important doctor."

"Yes!" she smiled at him.

#############

Ryoma was eating lunch at the back garden of school, by himself. Sakuno used the lunch break to study on her desk and he wanted to give her some privacy.

He smiled to himself, looking at the obento she had prepared him. It was so thoughtfully made. There was rice, omelet, steam vegetables and two pieces of grilled fish seasoned with lemon. He knew she did the same for Shinji and herself but it was still nice and the boy really appreciated.

"Ryoma?" Tomoka's voice called his attention and his expression changed automatically.

"What do you want?" he said, without looking at her, before chewing some meat.

The girl got close and sat by his side, looking at him worried.

"I heard about what happened yesterday. And people saw you at the teacher's room today. What's going on?"

"Nothing. Could you leave, please? You're ruining my lunch."

"I'm worried about you! You were never in the middle of such a thing! Now you're always walking around with that Ryuzaki-san and she even got you involved on her problems!"

"You don't know what are you talking about." He closed the obento without eating the whole meal and stood up. He was about to leave when she grabbed his arm and stopped him. The boy turned around abruptly, releasing himself.

"Don't touch me." He had a horrible look on his face.

"Why are you treating me like that, Ryoma?! Not just long ago, we were hugging and kissing, now you treat me like I'm contagious!"

"You cheated on me." He responded with clenched teeth, in front of her. "I trusted you and you cheated on me. So, you have no right of demanding anything from me or talking about Ryuzaki-san. I regret the day I became your boyfriend." He got closer. "Don't you ever come near me again. Just looking at you makes me sick."

He walked away in hard steps and the girl sat down, trying to muffle her cry on her hands.

#############

"Shinji, slow down. The food will not run away." Sakuno said, while they were having dinner together. She had prepared deep fried pork with teriyaki sauce, rice and salad.

"This is very good!" he said, with his mouth full. "It's been so long since we last had pork!"

"Echizen-kun was the one who brought it." She said, before eating some rice.

"Thank you, Ryoma-nii!"

"You're welcome." He ate a piece. "It's really good indeed."

"Thank you." She smiled at him. "Hey, Shinji, I have good news."

"What is it?"

"You can have the swimming lessons on summer. I have the money already."

"Really?!" he stood up, happily.

"Yes."

"Nee-chan, thank you! He ran to Sakuno's side and hugged her very tight. "Thank you so much!"

"Tomorrow after school I will go and pay the fee, okay? We need to buy you some trunks. Let's do it on the weekend."

"Yes!" he had a wide smile on his face.

"Finish eating now, otherwise it will get cold."

##############

Sakuno and Ryoma were on the kitchen. She had put Shinji to sleep already. Ryoma was washing the dishes and she was drying them.

"So, you're really not buying the cell phone."

"Not at all. He almost never asks for anything and he was so hopeful. And, learning how to swim is a useful skill."

"Do you know how to swim, Ryuzaki-san?"

"I do. My father taught me when I was young." He noticed the sad smile on her face while she was drying some bowls. "When things were still normal."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay." she looked at him gently.

"There is a nice water park a friend of mine is always going with his girlfriend on the summer. He always invites me to go, but I don't want to be a third wheel. We could go there, together. Shinji will like it. They have those arm floats for children who still don't know how to swim properly."

"He will love it! I've always wanted to take him to one of those! How much is it?"

"I will have to take a look for the teenage fees, I don't remember exactly, but children under 10 don't pay."

"Thank you so much, Echizen-kun!" the girl smiled happily at him.

"You're welcome."

They continued to talk about trivial things while cleaning the dishes of the meal they shared and Ryoma smiled to himself, enjoying her company on that quiet night.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ryoma-nii?" Shinji was surprised to see the teenager there to pick him up from school. Sakuno had put Echizen on the list of contacts for the little boy. "Where's Nee-chan?"

"She had something to solve and asked me to come and take you home. Is that okay?"

"Is everything all right?" he was worried. "Did she hurt herself again?"

"She is fine." He looked gently at him. "She will be home in a while. I'm in charge of food today."

"You are?" he made a face. His sister was teaching him how to cook on the past weeks and Ryoma had no talent at the kitchen.

"Don't worry, I will order pizza."

"Great!" he smiled, before holding his hand.

##############

Sakuno was sitting on a small cafe place near the school. She was all tense. She still couldn't believe her eyes.

"It's amazing how much you've grown." The man in front of her said, gently. He had dark short brown hair and dark green eyes. The same color of Shinji's. He was tall, handsome and was wearing an expensive suit. He drank a sip of a cup of coffee, looking at her. "You seem well."

"That's what you get when you walk away from your children, Tou-san." She responded, seriously. She thought her heart had stopped beating when seeing him at the gates of Seigaku and her whole body was cold and pale. "And I'm well in spite of you."

He put the cup down and looked at her with a sad expression.

"You're right. I made a terrible mistake."

"How did you find me?"

"I looked for your mother. She told me you were studying in Seigaku. Congratulations on your scholarship."

"You met Kaa-san? Where is she?!"

"She is living in Yokohama with some guy. I only talked to her briefly, less than 10 minutes. She told me she arrived at the placed you lived and there was a note from you saying you had taken Shinji. She called the school and your attendance was perfect, so, she decided it was the best to let you guys be."

She lowered her head and made a tremendous strength to not cry in front of him, but her voice was trembled.

"Do you know how many times I called you, hoping you would pick up your phone? When Shinji was sick, when we had no money or food, when Kaa-san left us for days, weeks. And you never answered me."

"I'm sorry. Those were hard years for me. Do you think I choose such situation? Your mother…"

"We are your children." She said with clenched teeth and the scarlet eyes were filled with tears. "We suffered because you left us all alone. No matter what happened between you two, we are your blood."

"I know. And I hope you can forgive me." He touched her hand but she pulled it away from him. "How's Shinji? How old is he again? Six, right?"

"He is seven. You abandoned us five years ago. I still remember you saying he was not your son, even though he looks exactly like you."

"I made a mistake. I came here today because I want to make things right."

"You cannot turn back time, Tou-san. You cannot erase everything me and Shinji went through because of you and mom's mess."

"I remarried, Sakuno." She was surprised for a second. "She comes from a wealthy family and we live very comfortably. But, unfortunately, she cannot have children. Since the beginning I told her about you and Shinji. She wants to adopt you guys. We could be a family again."

She smiled at his words.

"Are you kidding me? After all those years, you want to take us for your rich wife? What are we? Pets?"

"It's not like that."

"It's just like that. Thank you for the offer, Tou-san, but I'm not interested. We've come so far without you, we don't need you anymore."

"Maybe you don't, but Shinji does. He is still just a child. Isn't a burden for you, to take care of him still on high school? What about college? How are you managing that?"

"Shinji is not a burden." She had a deep frown on her face. "I will never leave him. I'm not like you."

"If you don't want to come with me, its okay. But I want him to be with me."

Sakuno stood up and picked up her backpack, leaving the place quickly.

"Sakuno, wait!" her father called, walking fast after her. He tossed some money on the table before leaving. "Where are you going?!"

"You're not taking him!" she stood tall and serious in front of him. "It's easier for you to rip my arms apart. We only have each other. If you want to clear your conscience, do like mom and disappear from our lives. It's the best you can do. Both of you are terrible parents anyway."

##########

"You've finally arrived." Ryoma said when Sakuno appeared at home. He looked at the clock on the wall and it was almost nine o'clock. "It's late. Is everything okay? What did your father want?"

She had told him about the man waiting for her at the school gates and asked him to take care of Shinji. He didn't want to leave her alone with him, she had such a distressed expression, but he did as he asked.

"Where is Shinji?" she asked quietly, the red bangs over her eyes.

"He is sleeping already. We had pizza for dinner; I didn't want him to get food poisoned. Is that okay?"

"It's fine, thank you." She walked towards the little boy's room. Sakuno kneeled by his futon and caressed his red hair, before kissing his forehead. "Have nice dreams." She whispered with a smile.

"Hey, you're weird." Ryoma said when she returned from his room and closed the shoji. She crossed the hallway to the gardens silently. "What happened?"

The girl went to the lawn. She stood there, barefoot and looked at the dark sky. A gush of the night wind touched her, making the long hair sway. There were no stars and the clouds were covering the waning moon. Everything was surrounded by darkness, just like her heart at the moment.

"Sakuno, what happened?" Ryoma asked one more time, standing on the back porch.

He felt his own heart breaking in two when the girl started to cry in front of him, big tears falling from her eyes. She fell on her knees and her whole body was trembling while she held herself, her cries intensifying.

The overwhelming feelings of sadness, abandonment and loneliness that she tried to hide deep inside during all those years were now pouring from her soul.

Ryoma came close, slowly and he kneeled in front of her. She tried to hide her face, she was so embarrassed, but her tears didn't obey her. The teenager boy hugged her gently but firmly, his hand rubbed her tired, narrow back, wanting to comfort her.

"It's okay." He whispered. "Let it out. Let it all out."

Sakuno's hand grabbed his t-shirt tight and she continued to cry while a small ray of light from the narrow moon started to shine over them.


	8. Chapter 8

"Here." Ryoma offered her a glass of water. She had calmed down a bit and they were sitting on the back porch.

"Thank you." She sniffled and drank it slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? Everyone cries." He looked at her with a small smile. He was so kind.

"I feel like I'm constantly pulling you inside my problems." She looked to the cup on her hands. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry." He touched the top of her head. "It's good to be useful to someone so diligent."

She finally smiled a little.

"Tell me what happened." He retrieved his hand and examinated her face. "Please. I'm worried."

"Tou-san remarried." Repeating their conversation made her chest hurt again. "He wanted me and Shinji to live with him and his new wealthy wife since she cannot have children. When I said I didn't want you, he still said he wanted to take Shinji with him."

"What are you going to do?"

"I thought about it for hours. That' why I took so much time to come home. I went to a cybercafé to search for the answers. But, I think I found a solution. I can ask to be emancipated. I need some papers and my mother's signature. With this, Tou-san cannot take Shinji away from me. I can prove he abandoned us and that I have a steady income to take care of him."

"Can you really do that?"

"Yes." She looked seriously at him. "I will need to go after her. Tou-san said she is in Yokohama. It's just an hour by train. I'm sorry to impose on you again, Echizen-kun, but can you stay with Shinji for the weekend? I don't want him to see her." She took a deep breath. "I don't want him to be hurt again."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it. And I will feed him properly, I promise."

"Thank you so much."

"Ah!" he stood up and went into the house, returning briefly. "I almost forgot."

He placed a cell phone on Sakuno's hand. It had a small crack in one of the corners of the screen.

"A cell phone?"

"It's my old one. You can use it while you don't buy a new one for yourself. It is a little damaged here." He pointed to the screen. "But it works just fine."

"Can I really have it?!"

"Hm." He showed her a small smile. "It's easier for us to keep in touch with it."

"Thank you so much, Echizen-kun!"

"It's already working." He pressed one button and picked up his own phone to show her the number. "I updated the number on our family's account, so you won't pay anything extra for it. I talked to my mother before doing it and she said it was okay."

"Can you send me a message?"

"Sure." It took just a second for his "Hi" message to arrive and she smiled.

"It worked!"

"I will send you pictures of Shinji while you're away." He touched her head gently. "Send me news too."

"I will!"

##############

"You're traveling tomorrow?" Shinji stopped eating breakfast and looked at her worried. "Why? Where to?"

"It's a school trip. Just for the weekend. I will be back Sunday night." She felt awful lying to him. It would be the first time they were going to be apart.

"Are you going too, Ryoma-nii?"

"Nope." He answered, after eating some rice. They had aligned the story together. "It's just for the best students. Can I hang out with you? A friend of mine is coming too; we can have snacks and play videogame."

"Okay!" he grinned, excited, before returning to eat.

Sakuno and Ryoma looked at each other, relieved the first part of her plan had worked out.


	9. Chapter 9

"You're the famous Shinji, right?." Momoshiro smiled at the little boy. He was hiding behind Ryoma's leg. He was always very shy on the first contact with new people. "Ryoma said you were an awesome player."

"He did?"

"Yes!" he smiled at him, making the child at ease. Ryoma rubbed his hair and he looked up.

"Shinji, why don't you go start the game? We're going to finish organizing lunch."

"Okay, Ryoma-nii!" he ran to his room.

Takeshi and Ryoma went to the kitchen. He had brought some homemade obento with him.

"Such a cute kid! I could pinch those cheeks forever."

"Please, don't." Ryoma was taking the containers out of the paper bag. "Thank you for bringing the food. Tell me how much I own you."

"Don't mention it." He looked at the hallway just to make sure they could talk freely. "So, how are things? Is Ryuzaki-san at Yokohama already?"

"Yeah, she left after breakfast this morning. I've never seen her so worried and sad. The worst part is, she is carrying this entire burden on herself and she even has to put a strong façade for Shinji."

"The situation is horrible. She seems like a strong kid."

"She is the best." Momoshiro noticed the gentleness on Ryoma's expression talking about her and he came close to his friend, examinating his friend. "Oh."

"What is it?"

"You like her." He grinned.

"What?" Ryoma made a face. "What are you talking about?"

"I've never seen you talk about any girl like that. Not even your own girlfriend."

"You're crazy." He said, before arranging the food on the table.

"Am I?" the silly grin continued.

"Shinji, come." He called the little boy on the hallway. "Lunch is ready."

################

Sakuno was sitting in the bench of a small park, under a tree. She interrupted her snack to pick up her phone after it vibrated it. She smiled seeing the message from Ryoma. Shinji was smiling and playing videogame. "He had lunch already. Everything is fine. Hope you're well."

She took the last bite of the sandwich and stood up; taking a deep breath, before throwing the wrapping paper on a trash can near. Yokohama was a huge city. She spent all morning trying to gather information the most likely places for her mother to be. She went to a police station and told them a white lie about visiting her mother. Sakuno had some data on her and asked them about her address. Thankfully, she was able to get it.

The girl had a little piece of paper on her hands. She had gone to a small neighborhood near the harbor. Sakuno breathe in the fresh smell of the sea. She wished Shinji was with her. He would love the beautiful view. The ocean was glistering and the seagulls were flying low. They had never travelled together. There was never enough money left and she was always busy. Crossing those narrow streets, Sakuno remembered all the small and great things that were stolen from her and Shinji on those last years. They were finally having a regular life, why couldn't they have a break?

Sakuno stopped in front of the house of the address. It was a small place, one door and one window on the front. She saw her mother's surname on a little plate next to the door. The girl knocked, but there was no response. She knocked again, harder. Nothing.

"Where are you, damn it!" she kicked the door hard. "I've come all the way here!"

"Hey, kid!" a masculine voice echoed on the street and startled her. There was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes sitting on the balcony of the house across from her mother's. He was smoking and looking down at her. "What do you think you're doing, hm?! Are you a punk or something?!"

Sakuno turned around and his upset face changed to a surprised one.

"Wow! You look just like Sanae-san! An exact copy!"

"Do you know where my mother is? I've came all the way from Tokyo looking for her."

"Wait!" he went down the stairs and opened the door with a friendly smile. "You're Sakuno, right?! Sanae-san told me about you!"

"Who…who are you?"

"I'm Mabuchi, we work together at the same bar, but today is my day off. She is probably there getting things ready for tonight. Come, I will take you there."

##############

The beautiful woman with red eyes and short red hair in a straight cut above her shoulders was organizing the bottle's shelves. She listened the door opening and closing, but she was facing the other way.

"Hey, Sanae-san, guess what!" the man said when they came inside. She was turned around so she didn't see Sakuno next to him.

"Damn it, Taki! How many times do I have to tell you to put the bottles on the exact places after every service and…."

Her words stopped when she finally turned and saw her daughter there.

Sakuno had a serious look on her face.

"Hello, mother. It's been a while."


	10. Chapter 10

"Are you hungry? Do you want something to drink?" Sanae asked. They were alone on the bar, the girl sitting on one of the tall benches, looking at her.

"No." she responded seriously.

"Why are you here? Did something happen?"

"Aside from you leaving us on a place without electricity, water or food?"

"I'm sorry for that. I came back on the next day with the money to pay for rent and other bills, but you were already gone." She closed her eyes and put a hand on her forehead. "I was not meant for that. I was doing my best."

"What are you talking about?"

"I didn't want to get married." She looked at her daughter. "I was obligated by my parents. I was finally able to feel some happiness when you and Shinji were born, but I've never loved your father. It became unbearable after a while. I didn't mean for things to happen that way. I never wanted to hurt you two."

"Kaa-san, you had a choice to take care of us properly and you didn't make that choice. But, it doesn't matter anymore." She was annoyed and impatient. "Tou-san came after me on school. He said he remarried to a wealthy woman and he wanted us to live with them."

"What?"

"I told him that there was no way, after everything that happened. But, he said that, even if I didn't want it, he wanted to take Shinji. I can't let this happen." She pulled a folder from her backpack and showed some papers to her. "I need you to sign these so I can ask to be emancipated. I have a place to live and steady income since I started Seigaku. I need this so I can keep Shinji. Otherwise he is going to be taken away from me." Sakuno lowered her head respectfully. "Please, Kaa-san."

Sanae looked at her daughter and her heart was tight. Sakuno was an extremely proud and independent person. She knew how hard it was for the teenager to be there, asking such a favor.

She picked up the papers from the girl's hand and started to read the words. Taking her cell phone out of her pocket, she dialed a number. Sakuno looked at her, confused.

"What are you doing?"

"I should know there was something fishy about him wanting to meet you." Her mother raised a finger asking for a moment. "Hello, Naoki." She had called their father! "Sakuno is here, in front of me, saying you want to take Shinji away from her. Are you crazy?"

The girl was so surprised she wasn't able to say anything.

"So, after all this time, you want to present a child to your wife. What is he? A puppy?!"

Sakuno had a small smile with her mother's words.

"Do you really think Shinji would be happy with you? You rejected him in the first place because of your wounded pride. He probably doesn't even know who you are."

Sakuno could hear her father's enraged voice on the other side of the phone.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a horrible mother, but you are not the father of the year either. So, that's what we are going to do. I'm signing Sakuno's emancipation. I have all the documents with me already. She is going to be legally responsible for Shinji. If you bother her again, I'm personally going to your new wife and tell her what you're trying to do. Let's see how she is going to take it. What kind of terrible man would separate siblings and create unnecessary distress for them?"

Sanae rolled her eyes for a moment.

"I don't care about what you think. I'm signing the papers. Forget about them, like you already did before. It's about time the kids are freed from the issues between you and me."

Her father was still talking when she turned off the phone. Her mother was still a badass! She picked up a pen and started to sign the forms.

"Here." She looked at her daughter with a gentle expression. "If you need anything else for the legal procedures, just give me a call." She wrote her number down on a napkin. "I will do anything to help you with it."

"You really signed." Sakuno couldn't believe it was so easy! "I was prepared to have a huge argument with you."

"Why would I do that?" She put the papers in front of her. "I really believe you and Shinji are better off without me. And you're more than capable of taking care of him properly. You were willing to fight for him, even though you are still just a kid yourself."

"Kaa-san…"

"I'm proud of you. I'm sorry, Sakuno. I'm really sorry I was not able to be the mother you two deserved."

"I have to go now."

"I know I have no right, but… is Shinji well?"

"He is. He is a good student at school and he is going to start swimming lessons on summer break."

"That' s good."

"He stopped crying about you. After you left, he would cry every night on bed. He doesn't anymore." she looked at her seriously. "I think he is forgetting about you."

"It's for the best." The girl noticed her mother's eyes glistering with some tears. "I don't want him to be sad anymore."

"I will make sure his childhood is filled with happy moments. Goodbye, Kaa-san. Thank you for this."

Sakuno walked out from the bar, without looking at her mother a second time. Her heart was clenched inside her chest and she just wanted to return home and see her little brother.

She closed the door behind her like also finally closing a whole painful and difficult part of her life.

################

"Nee-chan!" he ran to his sister when she entered the living room and Sakuno kneeled down to hug him. "You're back already! I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too!" she cupped his face. "Are you well? Did you behave properly with Echizen-kun?"

"He was just fine." Ryoma said. They were on his place.

"I won against Momoshiro-san on the videogame!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes! How was your school trip? Did you have fun?"

"I did. But I couldn't wait to come back home."

"Ryoma-nii was helping me with homework after we had dinner. My things are on the table."

"Go pick them up, I will wait for you."

"Okay!"

"Are you okay? How were things with your mom?" Ryoma asked when they were by themselves.

"She signed the papers and even bit my father's head off." The girl grinned. "Things ran very smoothly. I'm going to deliver the papers to Child's Services tomorrow, so I won't be going to school on first period. I had to stay there for a while, since we told Shinji I would only be back tonight."

"It's good, then." He showed her a small smile.

"Thank you so much for taking care of him, Echizen-kun. I really appreciate it." She made a polite reverence.

"I'm ready!" Shinji came running. "Bye bye, Ryoma-nii. Thank you!"

"See you later, Shinji." He rubbed the boy's red hair.

Sakuno smiled gently at him before he waved at her. The golden eyes followed her until she closed the gates of his house and he was happy to see her smiling again.


	11. Chapter 11

"You're going to work during summer break?" Ryoma asked, surprised. They were studying together at the temple. Shinji was sleeping already.

"Of course I am." She responded naturally, writing some notes on a paper. A week had passed already and she was just waiting the confirmation to her emancipation request. Since things were done properly, the social worker said it would take a while, but it was just some stapping of papers and checking of data, so she was at ease. "I spent a lot of money traveling to Yokohama and submitting the forms."

"But…it's summer break." He said like it was something obvious no one should work during such sacred period.

"So?" she looked at him. "I've always work on summer break. What do you do?"

"Nothing. Like I'm supposed to. I stay home, in front of the fan, sleep, eat or play games."

"You're basically a couch potato for the entire vacation." She smiled at him.

"Pretty much." He showed her a small smile. "What about Shinji? You're not going to spend vacations with him?"

"His swimming lessons are in the morning. I'm going to get a party time job at this time and only during the week. On afternoons I will be home, so I will take care of the temple. At nights, I will study."

"Are you even able to sleep properly?"

"I have so many things to do. I can sleep when I'm old and retired." She grinned at him.

"So, what about the water park? Are we really going?"

"Yes! Especially since the fee is so cheap!" her eyes glistered. "I need to take Shinji to buy a swimsuit."

"What are you doing Saturday? Are you going to work already?"

"I'm free. Why?"

"We can go out with Momoshiro and Tachibana-san. You can eat together and buy what you need."

"Good idea." She smiled. "Let's go back to Chemistry now. You still have some exercises do to."

"Yes, general."

"You're so silly." Sakuno giggled.

############

"Nee-chan?" Shinji was at the dining table, doing some drawing while his sister was cooking dinner. It was Friday night.

Two weeks had passed and they were already on summer vacations. The little boy had started his swimming lessons and he was extremely excited about it. Sakuno would wake up early and take him there, before she would go to her part time job in a coffee place.

"Yes, Shinji?" she asked, without taking her eyes out of the grilling fish.

"How many days until we go to the water park again?"

"Just one more week. I told you we're going on the first Sunday on August. It's when the park will be open." She took a deep breath. Sakuno was not feeling well for a couple of days already, but she was trying to deal it with herself. With the tests, her stress over the emancipation process, work on the temple and another job, she was not really even eating properly.

"I really liked Momoshiro-san's girlfriend. Ann-san is very nice!" they went to buy his swim trunk together on the weekend before and Shinji had a lot of fun. He looked outside, from the back shoji that was opened. "Why can't I be with him and Ryoma-nii now? They're playing games!"

"You have to let them have their own private time sometimes." She smiled at him and there was some sweat on the red bangs already. "Don't you like to spend time with me anymore?"

"Of course I do!" he grinned. "But I also like playing games." He drew something more with his crayons and asked gently. "Can we have a videogame too?"

"Not really, I'm sorry. We have other priorities for now. But, I promise you that when I'm a proper grown up, I will buy the best video game for you."

"Thank you, Nee-chan!"

"You're welco…" Sakuno sentenced was cut by a sudden dizziness. She tried to support herself on the counter, but her legs failed her and she fell on the ground on her side.

Shinji ran to her and shook her body with all the strength he had on his little arms.

"Nee-chan, Nee-chan! Wake up, please!"

Nothing. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was difficult. Her skin was covered in cold sweat and she was burning with fever.

##############

"So, were you well on the tests?" Momoshiro asked, while they were in front of the TV, playing a fight game. His character punched Ryoma's twice.

"Regular, as always." He answered, uninterested.

"And Ryuzaki-san?"

"She scored top grades. People were pretty jealous."

"Your new girlfriend is so intelligent." He teased him.

"She is not my girlfriend." Ryoma took a deep breath.

"Are you telling me you're not even curious about seeing her on a bathing suit when we go to the water park? Ann told me she bought a really cute one."

There was a very subtle blush on his cheeks for a moment and he was all tense. The boy remembered their tragic encounter on the laundry room.

"I have no interest on such thing." He said, punching his friend's character with special hits.

"Come on! She is a gorgeous, nice girl living a few meters from you. You guys are always together."

"For the tenth time, there is nothing going on."

"Ryoma-niii!" Shinji's desperate scream stopped their game and Ryoma ran to the house's porch. The little boy came running and without air.

"Shinji, what happened?" he touched the child's shoulders and they were trembling. His face was already marked with tears.

"Nee-chan… Nee-chan…" he couldn't talk, his words mixed up on his sobbing. "I called her a lot of times, but she doesn't wake up!"


	12. Chapter 12

Sakuno opened her eyes slowly. Her eyelids were so heavy. She recognized the ceiling of her bedroom. How exactly did she arrive there?"

"Echizen-kun?" she moved her face. He sleeping leaning on the wall and he woke up with her voice. "What are you doing here?"

"You're finally awake." He came close and sat by the futon's side. He was so relieved. "You collapsed. You had a high fever." He touched the cooling pad on her forehead, being sure it was still working. "Shinji came to my place, crying. I was playing videogames with Momo."

"Where's Shinji?" she tried to get up, but he gently stopped her, his hand on her shoulder.

"He is fine. He calmed down and ate dinner. He's sleeping on his room. It's already past midnight."

"I'm so sorry for troubling you again."

"No trouble at all." His golden eyes were so kind. "You probably collapse from stress. Shinji told me you weren't eating properly lately." He was so worried. "I wanted to take you to the hospital, but I didn't know if I could."

"If I go they would probably call Child's Services on us. I can't have anything that would put the emancipation process at risk."

"It's okay. We're not going anyway, then." He picked up a pill with a cup with some water. "Can you take this medicine? It's for the fever."

"Yes." She took the medicine and Ryoma helped her with the water. "Thank you."

"Shinji was crying so much. He was terrified, he thought you had died."

"I was able to hide from him everytime I got sick. I wanted to just endure it, like I always did." he noticed the sadness on her smile. "I'm used already, to get sick by myself."

"You shouldn't have." He said, seriously. "You don't have to shoulder everything by yourself, Ryuzaki-san. If you need any help, I'm here for you and Shinji, just ask."

"I'm only giving you problems. I cannot burden you so much."

"It's not a burden. You're always helping me too, with my studies or with food. And I like having Shinji around. He is such a good kid. You raised him very well."

"Echizen-kun…" she was so touched by his words.

"I could make our meals, so you could sleep in a little more in the mornings. I know my cooking is bad by now, but I will try my best. I can take Shinji to the swimming lessons too to give you a less rushed time before leaving to work."

"Would you really do that for us?"

"Hm." He showed her a small smile. "If you guys weren't here, it would be so boring. I'm glad you came, Ryuzaki-san."

Sakuno felt her heart tight and Ryoma noticed when the scarlet eyes were glistering with tears.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he was extremely worried. "Are feeling worse?!"

"No, it's just… I don't remember the last time someone took care of me, that someone was willing to do something for me and Shinji."

Ryoma was out of words. She must have been so lonely.

The girl's hand was out of the heavy covers he had put over her and touched his. The boy was surprised for a moment.

"Thank you so much, Echizen-kun." She smiled.

"It's okay." He squeezed her fingers. "Go back to sleep. You need to rest. I'm staying here with you. Don't worry about breakfast, Momo prepared something before he left. He wanted to help too."

"I will thank him later." She said, almost in a whisper, after closing her eyes and tiredness and sleep reached her again.

Ryoma stayed there, holding her warm hand for a while, watching over her. He was so afraid. He ran to her side and kneeled, holding him inside his arms, calling her name. It was fortunate Momoshiro was there. His friend was older and was able to deal with the situation better. He was also the one who calmed Shinji down and took care of him while Ryoma stayed with Sakuno.

" _Even though she does so much housework, her fingers are so soft._ _I can only imagine how hard things were for her. She must had gone trough so many other difficult times by herself._ " Ryoma looked at her sleeping face. Momoshiro was right, she was very beautiful, but it was just one of the many qualities about her. She was so kind and gentle, even with being always so busy. The girl could be scary, but her smiles were always very sincere and sweet and….

" _Wait a minute. Why am I thinking about such things?_ "

Ryoma had a deep, thoughtful frown on his forehead, before the golden eyes were wide in absolute shock. He released her hand and slide to the wall, pressing his back on it with all his strength, his heart racing. He looked at her and could feel his blood rushing inside his veins. It took him a moment to calm down. Lowering his head, the black bangs were over his eyes and he called himself stupid for not realizing sooner.

" _Oh, no._ " Echizen look at Sakuno again, feeling extremely embarrassed. " _I do like her._ "


	13. Chapter 13

"Shinji." She smiled at the little boy peeking at her from the door. "You can come, it's all right."

"Nee-chan!" he ran to her and hugged her tightly. His sister was sitting on the futon. She was feeling a little better.

"I'm so sorry for making you worry, Shinji." She caressed his red hair.

"Are you okay, Nee-chan?"

"I'm, thank you. Echizen-kun took care of me."

"Your face was so red and hot." He cupped her cheeks with his little hands. "I called you but you didn't wake up."

"I'm sorry. I will take care of my body better so I won't scare you anymore. I promise."

"Ah, there you are, Shinji." Ryoma appeared on the door. He showed Sakuno a small smile. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Ryoma-nii, Nee-chan is feeling better!"

"Oh, really?" he got close and touched Sakuno's forehead. "Yeah, the fever is finally down. Good."

"Thank you so much for your help, Echizen-kun."

"Are you hungry? I was fixing the food Momo left yesterday. Do you think you can eat a little?"

"I think I can." She was about to stand up when Shinji stopped her. "Shinji?"

"Stay in bed! You're still recovering. Right, Ryoma-nii?!"

"That's right." He touched Shinji's hair. "Do you want to help me with breakfast?"

"Yes!" he smiled. "Nee-chan, stay here and I will bring your food."

"Okay, I will be waiting." She smiled gently at him.

#############

"Here, Ryoma." Momoshiro sat by his friend's side and offered him a can of orange soda. They were sitting on the edge of one of the pools in the water park. Sakuno and Ann were on the water, playing with Shinji.

"Thank you." He said, picking up the soda. He looked to the little boy with a small smile. "He looks so happy."

"Isn't he?" Takeshi smiled. "And Ryuzaki-san seems to have recovered completely too. That's good."

"Yeah." He looked at Ryuzaki, before taking a sip of the soda.

It took Ryoma a long time to calm down after freaking out by himself, finally aware of his feelings. He was not able to sleep properly that night, thinking things over. In the end, he decided to wait for a proper moment to talk to Sakuno. He would definitely talk to her. But the boy decided to wait for a while. The girl had just recovered from a stress breakdown; she was busy with her little brother, her job, the temple and worried about the emancipation papers that still didn't arrive, even if she tried to hide it.

Echizen was sure he was going to be immediately rejected, but he was not really afraid of that. He feared that things between them would change. Aside from liking her as a girl, he treasured her as a friend, someone he learned to share his days with. He didn't want to ruin their friendship and make things awkward.

Shinji tossed a ball to his sister and Sakuno caught it. She stopped for a while and smiled at Ryoma. She was wearing a white two piece bikini with some small blue stars printed on it. Her long red hair was loose and her wet skin was glistering under the sunlight. She was so beautiful. He felt extremely embarrassed when seeing her with the bathing suit before they entered on the pool. It was not the first time he had seen her body, but something was different now. He looked at her with the eyes of a boy with a crush.

##########

"Say Aaah, Takeshi!" Ann smiled at her boyfriend, holding a pair of hashi with a deep fried shrimp on it. She had short orange hair reaching a little above her shoulders and dark blue eyes. The boy obeyed and ate happily.

The group was on a resting area, sitting on artificial grass, eating lunch.

Sakuno smiled at them. They were so in love. She opened the obento she had prepared to her, Shinji and Ryoma.

"It's so beautiful, Ryuzaki-san!" Ann said, surprised. There was rice, grilled fish, a lot of colorful steamed vegetables, fluffy omelet and shimeji mushroom.

"It's just something home made."

"She's been modest." Ryoma said, picking his obento. "Her food is the best. Right, Shinji?"

"Yes!" he smiled, before putting his hands together. "Thank you for the food!"

"Thank you for the food." The teenager smiled gently at Sakuno, before they started to eat.

"So, Tachibana-san, how did you two meet? Did you study at Seigaku as well?

"It was fate." Momoshiro said, with loving eyes.

"He bumped into her while we were walking on a fall festival and spilled ice cream all over her dress." Ryoma said, between bites of the vegetables.

"Really?! Weren't you mad at him?!"

"I was at first, but then, he was almost crying and saying sorry so much. He helped me to find a public restroom where I could clean myself and gave me his jacket." She smiled. "How could I be angry at such cute face?"

"She had my number to return the jacket and we started texting each other."

"We started to date last Christmas." She smiled at her boyfriend. "Since I'm graduating next spring at Fudomine, I'm already studying to go to his university, so we can spend more time together."

"Isn't she great?" Takeshi grinned.

"What about you, Ryuzaki-san? How is work at the café?"

"Everything is fine. People there are very nice."

"Where is the place again?" Ryoma asked. "You never told me."

"Ah!" she was a little nervous. "You probably don't know about it. It's a new shop near the subway station close to Seigaku."

"Nee-chan wears a special uniform." Shinji said, finishing eating the mushroom, without looking at them. "She looks like a doll."

"A doll?" Ann looked at her surprised. "Are you working on a maid cafe?!"

"Really?" Ryoma looked at Ryuzaki.

Sakuno averted her eyes and she was all tense.

"Well… the salary is good for just half a day and… and…"

"I want to go there!" the other girl was excited. "Ryuzaki-san, you must be so cute!"

"I'm not cute at all! The uniform is so clingy, there is also the short skirt, the stockings and…"

" _I want to see._ " Echizen thought.

"Tell us the address, Ryuzaki-san! We're going!" Momoshiro smiled. "Right, Ryoma?"

"Hm." He responded quietly, trying to hide the blush on his face and to cope with the idea of the girl he liked wearing a maid outfit.


	14. Chapter 14

Shinji woke up and pressed the button of his alarm clock. It was shaped like a small roster and her sister had given him as a gift with her first salary of the temple.

The little boy got up from his futon and went to the bathroom to get ready for the swimming lessons.

He brushed his teeth, put on one of the trunks Sakuno had bought him, put some shorts and a t-shirt and checked his backpack before putting on his back.

Shinji went to his sister's room and she was still sleeping. Since she got sick, she arranged her schedules with Ryoma's help and was able to sleep a little more.

He kissed her cheek and whispered "I am off, Nee-chan" before leaving her room.

######

Ryoma had a toast with jam on his mouth, while he finished preparing scramble eggs. His cooking had improved a lot under Sakuno's teachings and he was know able to prepare basic dishes without transforming them in charcoal.

"Good morning, Ryoma-nii!" Shinji entered his kitchen with a smile.

"Oh, Shinji." He answered taking a bite of the toast before leaving it on a small plate. "Morning. Take a seat, food will be ready soon."

"Okay!" the boy waited on the short table, his backpack by his side.

"Here we go." Ryoma went to the table carrying two dishes. There was scrambled eggs, a big toast with fruit jam and sausages.

"Thank you for the food, Ryoma-nii!' he clapped his hands together, before picking up the hashi and start to eat. "It's yummy! You are really getting better!"

"I am sorry I can't make many options like your sister food." He said, re-starting to eat his toast.

"Don't worry." the boy grinned between bites. "I like Ryoma-nii's food."

"Better than your sister's?"

"Of course not!" he responded honestly and Ryoma chuckled.

#########

They were going to his swimming lessons. It was a short walk, just a few blocks to the temple. They were talking when the little boy's green eyes were drawn to a bakery window display with a beautiful birthday cake showing. It was covered with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and strawberries.

"What is it?" Ryoma asked, when he stopped walking. "Do you like cake?"

"Birthday cakes." he smiled at Ryoma. "They are so beautiful."

"What kind of cake do you usually have on your birthday?"

The teenager noticed his sad expression and he looked at the cake inside the store again.

"I never had one. Nee-chan too. We never had money."

Ryoma felt horrible and inconsiderate.

"But, Nee-chan would always by a little cupcake for me." He smiled again. "I want to bake a birthday cake for her on her next birthday, Ryoma-nii. Would you help me?"

"Of course." He looked at the little boy gently and touched his hair. "And how about you, Shinji? When is your birthday? We could make a cake for you too."

"Really?" his green eyes sparkled and he held Ryoma's hand. "Can we really?"

"It would probably not be so beautiful like this one, but…"

"I want it! I really want it, Ryoma-nii!"

"It's settled then." Shinji grinned. "When is your birthday, Shinji?"

"December 24th."

"For real? It's my birthday too."

"Can we have two cakes then?!"

"No problem." Her mother always insisted on having one at his birthday, even with him telling her it was not necessary. "Let's go? Otherwise we are going to be late."

"Yes!" he held Ryoma's bigger hand and they started to walk again.


	15. Chapter 15

Ryoma returned home briefly and was waiting the wash machine to finish its cycle when he got a message on his cell phone. It was her mother, sending a picture with his dad at a beautiful beach. They were both smiling with colorful drinks on their hands. " _We miss you very much and hope everything is fine! Love, Mom and Dad, from Kerama Islands._ "

"They are in Okinawa." he said to himself, before texting back saying everything was fine and he missed them too.

The boy laid on the floor and took a deep breath. Four months had passed by already. Soon the summer would end, fall would come and Sakuno would leave at the end of September.

Was he going to be able to find a good opportunity to talk to her during that time? Classes would return and she was totally absorbed in studying hard. That would be a terrible time to talk about it. He could clearly see her not even pay attention to him, her scarlet eyes glued on some book.

His cell phone received another message and he thought it was his mother again, but he sat down, surprised, when seeing Sakuno's text asking if he wanted to go to the temple. He replied quickly and was grateful he had the change to be alone with her for a little while.

###########

Shinji was at the pool, waiting his friends to practice jumping in line. There were 10 children on his class and two teachers. He was waiting anxiously his turn, at the end of the line, when he saw a man on the other side of the fence, waving at him.

The boy looked around and realized the man was really talking to him. At one point, he made a gesture, calling him with his hand and the boy came close to the fence, since the teachers were busy with the other kids on the water.

"You are Shinji, right?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes. How do you know that?"

"I came to check on you. Where is Sakuno? Is she around?"

"You know Nee-chan as well? She is coming to pick me up when the class ends."

"Ah, I see."

"Shinji-chan!" one of the female teachers came to them and she looked at the little boy worried. "You cannot go away from the pool area by your own."

"I'm sorry, sensei." He pointed to the man. "But, he said he wanted to talk to me."

"Sir, this area is private for students and their families only." She had an upset expression. "You cannot be around the children, please, leave."

"That's okay." He replied, gently. "My name is Ryuzaki Naoki. I'm his father."

###########

"So the shop is closed for electric maintenance today?" Ryoma asked before taking a bite of the fluffy cheesecake she had brought home. "This is good."

"They forgot to tell me and I went there, so they gave me some slices as an apology. I wanted to share with you since you are helping us so much lately." She smiled gently at him. They were sitting across from each other. "But, I should have probably waited until lunchtime, right?"

"It's fine." He took another bite. "Kaa-san sent me a picture. She is in Okinawa with dad, at some beach."

"Really?"

He picked up his phone and showed the photo to her.

"Ah, that is so beautiful! Aren't they lucky? I'd love to go. I had a really great time at the water park."

The memory of her wet body in the white bikini came into his mind suddenly. He was still a teenager around the girl he liked.

He took another nervous bite, averting his eyes.

"I enjoyed myself too." The sentenced echoed on his head and he felt like a pervert!

"Echizen-kun, I was wondering if we could have a little barbecue at the back garden before the vacations end."

"Barbacue?"

"Yes. I was never able to have one of those with Shinji." She picked up a small paper for the housewives of the neighborhood filled with discount cupons and her eyes sparkled. "There will be many sales on meat at that week, we wouldn't spend much!"

He showed a small smile with her enthusiasm over home economics and how the siblings were always thinking about each other.

"That would be fine. Can I call Momo and Ann? He can bring some safe fireworks."

"Yes! It would be fun."

Her cell phone started to ring and interrupted their conversation.

"It's from the swimming club." She said, worried, before answering. "Yes, Ryuzaki here."

Ryoma watched when a deep frown appeared on her face and her hand holding the phone started to tremble. She was monosyllabic for a while, before turning off.

"Hey, what happened? Is Shinji okay?"

The girl stood up and her heart was burning with anger.

"I have to go now. They said Tou-san is there with him."


	16. Chapter 16

Sakuno entered the swimming school in hard and angry steps, with Ryoma following her.

Shinji was sitting with her father in a small room on the back and the teacher was waiting for them.

"I am so sorry for disturbing, Ryuzaki-san. But, you never told us about your father coming, so…"

"That's okay, thank you very much." She did her best to be able to smile at the teacher.

The little boy left the sofa when saw her entering the place and ran to her.

"Onee-chan, guess what…" his words were stopped when Sakuno held him on her arms, hugging him tightly.

"Are you okay, Shinji?!"

"Of course he is. I didn't do any harm, Sakuno." Her father stood up with a smile, but the girl only looked at him with a deadly glare.

"What are you doing here? I could call the police on you." She was trying to hard to remain calm and not scare her brother.

"Call the police? He is my child. Why can't I see him?"

"Having the same blood does not make you a father. I never want to see you near us again."

Sakuno turned around and was walking away, when he tried to stop her.

"Sakuno, I just wanted to talk to you two, please." she looked at him like a lioness protecting her cub.

"Do not come near us! You have no right!"

"Nee-chan, what is happening?" the child got scare with her scream and was about to cry on her arms. His sister hugged him even tighter.

"Everything will be okay. Don't worry. Let's go home, okay?"

Ryoma took a last look on Naoki's face before they left. So, that was the man who allowed Sakuno to carry so many hardships over her shoulders.

##############

They finally arrived at the temple. Sakuno put Shinji on the floor and the little boy looked at her confused.

"Nee-chan, what happened? Why we couldn't stay? He said he just wanted to talk to us."

"Why did you get near him on the first place?!" she shouted, angrily. "I've told you before, you should never talk to strangers!"

"Nee-chan…" Shinji was so scared.

"Do you have any idea of what have you done?!" Sakuno held him by his arms, feeling extremely frustrated.

"Ryuzaki-san!" Ryoma called her, seriously. Shinji had lowered his head and big tears were falling down his round face. The little boy sobbed.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Nee-chan!"

He released himself from her arms and ran to his room, slamming the door.

Sakuno felt horrible for realizing what she did and was about to cry as well.

"Why won't you prepare lunch?" the teen said, gently. "Take your time and cool off a little. I will talk to him."

"Thank you, Echizen-kun." She replied, quietly, before going to the kitchen.

###########

Ryoma slid the shoji a little and looked inside the room.

"Shinji, can we talk?"

The little boy was sitting on the outside porch, his head down.

The teenager entered the room and sat in front of him, noticing he was still crying.

"Nee-chan had never yelled at me like that before." He said, between sobs.

"She was nervous. It was not about you." He explained, gently. "Your sister was afraid."

"Afraid of what?" he looked at him with the green eyes filled with tears. "He was our father! He knew my birthday and showed me his ID, it's the same name there is on our documents, as well." He sniffled. "I'm still a kid, but I know that much."

"Of course." Ryoma touched his hair. "You're very intelligent."

"I was so happy to finally meet him, Ryoma-nii. I always asked about him, Kaa-san never told me anything." He lowered his head again. "Nee-chan always told me we didn't have a father."

"Shinji, listen to me. Things between grownups can be confusing. I'm sure your sister had her reasons and she will talk to you about it someday."

"Did I really do something bad talking to him, Ryoma-nii?"

"Well, you cannot talk to strangers, your sister was right. What if he was a bad person?" he looked at Shinji's face with a kind small smile. "You are the most important person in your sister's life. She just wants you to be safe."

"Do you think she still likes me?"

"Of course." He messed his hair a little. "She is at the kitchen preparing something delicious for you at this very moment."

He finally showed a happy grin.

############

Sakuno took a deep breath after she sat down on the temple's front stairs with Ryoma. They had dinner and she was putting Shinji to bed after finally talking to him about their father.

The teenager was patiently waiting outside, to give them privacy on such serious subject.

"So, how did it go?"

"He cried again." She placed both hands on her face. "He kept me asking if had done something wrong, because both our parents left him behind."

"I'm so sorry." He really wanted to be able to give her a hug and try to comfort her. "What are you going to do about what happen? Are you calling your mom?"

"Of course not." she looked at him seriously, before averting her eyes. "I cannot do that again."

"But, she helped you before."

"I asked for emancipation because I wanted to be an adult soon. If I am an adult I cannot keep running to my mom every time something bad happens. I have to be reliable if I want to be fully responsible for Shinji until he becomes an adult too. I will manage somehow."

"I see." He showed her a small smile.

"I'm so sorry. I involved you in some drama again." She growled. "Why can't I have a break?! I must have done something terrible on my other life!"

Ryoma chuckled with her words. She looked at him and laughed.

"Don't worry about me. I told you before. I want to help you guys whenever I can."

Sakuno smiled at him before leaning on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

"Thank you so much, Echizen-kun."

"Hm." His heart was beating so fast and he was not able to say anything more.


	17. Chapter 17

Sakuno stopped in front of the tall building with a determinate expression. It was a business center.

She looked at the notes on her cell phone one more time before entering the place with hard and hurried steps.

The girl had researched online about her father's wife. Since she was a wealthy person, it was not hard to find information about her online. She just had to type her father's name on a search website and there it was: Adachi Jun. A beautiful woman with short dark hair and light blue eyes. She had not taken the Ryuzaki name. Sakuno was surprised to find out her father's new wife was a renowned attorney.

Ryuzaki was expecting a spoiled and rich woman. Their wedding ceremony was very big and expensive. There were a lot of photos on websites about social things at the time.

She worked on divorces and other family affairs. There was no way Sakuno could afford her fees, but once a month she would receive people with low incomes, to help them.

The teen thought it was some sick joke from the universe. How could someone that work with such a thing could be willing to separate her and Shinji? She needed to let her have a piece of her mind!

Sakuno entered the beautiful office and there was a young man as the receptionist. She had brought the papers Jun's website required.

"Good morning." She said, politely. "I am here to ask for a meeting with Adachi-san. I brought the documents."

"Good morning." He said, gently.

"I came because I need some help with my emancipation process."

"Oh, I see. Please, give me the documents." He gave her a form. "Fill this. Adachi-san is traveling at the moment, but we will put you on the waiting list."

"Thank you so much." She said, before starting to fill form.

############

"Guys." Sakuno smiled nervously, holding the menu of the café tightly. "You really came." It was the end of the afternoon and she had shifted shifts since the incident with her father. She had changed Shinji's time on the swimming classes as well. It was not much, but it was something to avoid Naoki to see him again.

Momoshiro, Ann and Ryoma were sitting at a table on her workplace. It was really a maid café. The girl was wearing a short black and white maid outfit with a black bow tightening her long hair in a ponytail. The black stockings were reaching the middle of her thighs and Ryoma was trying his best not to look at her like some pervert.

"You are so cute, Ryuzaki-san!" Ann said, excited.

"The outfit really looks good on you! Right, Ryoma?" Takeshi smiled, teasing his friend.

"Ye...yes." he answered quietly, his bangs in front of his eyes.

"So, how can I help you today?" she offered the menu to them.

"Oh, this sandwich looks good!" Momoshiro showed to his girlfriend.

"Yes! What do you recommend for a drink, Ryuzaki-san?"

"We have the special chocolate frapuccino. It comes with whipped cream and strawberries on top. I don't like chocolate, but it's really popular."

"You don't like chocolate?!" Ann was surprised. "What about Valentine's Day? What do you do when boys at school give you chocolate?

"That's just a hassle. I always give them to Shinji." She made a straight face. Ryoma was really glad to know such information.

"Let's order this sandwich and the frapuccino too. Ryoma, are you not ordering anything?" Momoshiro asked.

"Ah, well…."

"The Katsu Sando is very good." She bent a little to point it on Ryoma's menu. The proximity with her chest on that tight uniform made the boy blush. "The pork is crispy but tender and the sauce is tasty. It also has a little shredded cabbage salad inside."

"I want one, please. And iced tea."

"Peach, right?" She smiled at him. Sakuno knew it was his favorite.

"Hm." He showed her a small smile on return.

Echizen's eyes followed her while she returned to the kitchen and Momoshiro had a satisfied smile on his face.

"Didn't I tell you, Ann? He had fallen hard."

"He sure had." She smiled.

"What kind of nonsense are you telling your girlfriend?" he asked with a bored face.

"You were totally ogling her!"

"I was not."

They teased him until Sakuno returned with the food. Everything was so beautiful and delicious and Ryoma was happy to have the opportunity of seeing her at work.

When Sakuno finished her shift and was about to leave to pick up Shinji, she was surprised to see Ryoma sitting on a bench at the park across from the place. She smiled and walked towards him.

"What are you still doing here?"

"Well, it is almost time to pick up Shinji." He stood up and looked at her gently. "I waited for you so we can go together."

"Thank you!"

They walked together with the sunset colors surrounding them.

"The last week of summer vacations." Sakuno said.

"Yes. It always goes by so fast." He looked at her. "I talked to Momoshiro today about the barbecue. He was very excited and said he will bring the fireworks."

"Really?! That is great! Shinji is going to love it!"

"It's going to happen this Sunday, right? We have to buy things on Saturday. I can help you out with that."

"Thank you so much, Echizen-kun!"

She smiled at him and the boy's heart was tight. She was so beautiful under those rich tones. The color of her hair and eyes were even richer. He wanted to hold her hand.

While they continued to talk about small things, on the way of picking up Shinji, Ryoma was sure that he was not going to be able to hold back on his feelings for much longer.


	18. Chapter 18

Ryoma showed Sakuno a small smile when she returned to the kitchen. It was late at night already. He was washing the dishes from the barbecue while she was putting Shinji to bed.

"Did he fall asleep?"

"Finally." She smiled. "Exhaustion got the best of him."

It was a wonderful night. Ann and Momoshiro came with the electric grill and fireworks. Ryoma and Sakuno had bought skid, chicken and they were even able to find some sale on beef and the girl was extremely happy.

Ann helped her with the rice and green salad while the girl made lemon pie for dessert.

They ate, talked and laughed. Shinji's eyes never looked brighter when seeing the small fireworks Momoshiro brought him.

"Good."

"Thank you so much, Echizen-kun." She grinned happily. "Today was the best day!"

"Glad to help." His heart skipped a beat and he returned his attention to the dishes, while Sakuno dried them.

"Are you excited to go back to school?" the boy asked.

"Yes!"

"You are so weird." He chuckled. "How about your part-time job at the maid cafe? Are you quitting it?"

"I have to." He noticed the hint of sadness on her voice. "I need to use the time to study and keep my grades up."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Why do you want to be a doctor?"

"I want to help people." The scarlet eyes were gentle. "Especially people with little money. I want to have a family clinic."

"That's a good idea."

"That's why I study so hard. I need to get a full scholarship, otherwise I won't have the money to pay the university fees." She took a deep breath. "And there is also the matter of a house for us."

"I'm sure everything will be all right."

"Thank you." She smiled at him.

They finished cleaning and organizing things and Sakuno invited him to talk a little more on the outside porch.

They sat on the stairs and Ryoma looked up. It was full of stars.

"It's beautiful, right?" Sakuno said. "You know, before we arrived here, I don't remember the last time I watched the night sky. There was so many other things in my mind."

"What kind of things?"

"What are we going to be able to eat tomorrow? Is mom coming back home? Are we going to be able to take a bath?" she smiled sadly, her eyes filled with the sparkling stars.

His chest hurt with her words.

"To imagine now we have a safe, clean space to live and we are able to eat at every meal and sleep safely. I can even provide to Shinji properly." She looked at him with a beautiful smile. "Everyday is like a dream."

Echizen hugged her tightly, her face on the curve of his shoulder and Sakuno was surprised.

"Echizen-kun?"

"I am sorry." His voice was serious but very gentle. "I am so sorry you and Shinji had to go through such difficult things. I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for you two."

She distanced herself a little and looked at him kindly.

"Hey, it's okay. We are fine now. Working here really saved us. And I am very glad we were able to meet, Echizen-kun."

"I like you." He looked at her with all the courage he could reunite on his chest.

"I like you too." she replied, totally oblivious. "You're always so nice to us, helping me and Shinji out, so…"

Ryoma touched her hand, firmly but gently and her words stopped.

"You're wrong. I like you as…" the golden eyes were serious. "Like I want you to be my girlfriend."

It took her a long moment to process his words and she was extremely embarrassed. "What…what do you mean?!"

"Calm down, please." His voice was so gentle. "I don't want to pressure you or anything like that. I know this kind of thing only bothers you, you 're so busy, you probably don't have any interest, but…I just needed to tell you. I couldn't hold back anymore."

"Echizen-kun…" she couldn't say anything else.

Ryoma gave her a small kiss on her cheek, before standing up.

"I will wait until you think you can give me an answer. Any answer is fine. Good night, Ryuzaki-san. Sleep well."

The scarlet eyes followed the boy's back while he walked away from her. Sakuno touched her face, the place where he had kissed. Her heart was beating so hard, she was afraid it would drop from her chest and the girl could hear the rushing sound of her blood running inside her veins.


	19. Chapter 19

"So, what's up?" Momoshiro asked, after entering Ryoma's house. The boy invited him to go to his place on that Saturday. A week had passed by quickly. "You look awful. Did something happen?"

He said, with a smile, teasing his friend, but soon Takeshi was worried with the pained way the teen looked at him.

"I really need some advice."

They sat on the outside porch.

"Ryoma, tell me what's going on. You are starting to freak me out." He had never seen his friend so down before.

"Promise you will not laugh." He asked, seriously.

"I promise."

He lowered his head and the black bangs were in front of his eyes. He took a deep breath, before talking.

"You were right."

"About what?"

"I…" he raised his face and the golden eyes were sad. "I like Ryuzaki-san."

"Oh, Ryoma." He smiled, gently. "It's okay. I know I teased you a lot, but there is no need to be like that."

"I acted on it. I told her about how I felt and then…" he took another deep, dishearten breath. "Ryuzaki-san stopped talking to me."

"What? Why? Is she mad at you?"

"I don't know. She is always so strange and never looked me straight anymore. She tries to act normally when Shinji is around, but she never talks to me at school and never let me help her with him anymore. She has always some excuse so I won't accompany her to school or back home." He lowered his head again. "Sometimes Shinji invites me to eat with them, but she is so uncomfortable, I feel like a nuisance."

"I am so sorry."

"What can I do?" Ryoma asked, quietly. "I held back for a long time, so things wouldn't be weird. I don't want her to hate me."

"What did Ryuzaki-san say when you confess?"

"She didn't say anything, she was all nervous. So, I told her I didn't want to pressure her and I would be fine with any reply and she could take her time."

"I see."

"What should I do?"

Momoshiro closed his eyes and crossed his arms with a thoughtful expression.

"Well, you have to talk to her."

"How? She doesn't even look at my face."

"Ask her what is bothering her so much. Let her know you still want to be friends, no matter what."

"I hope it works."

Takeshi touched his friend's dark hair and messed it a little.

"It's the first time I see you like that for a girl! You must really like her!" he grinned, trying to humor him.

"Hm." Echizen showed him a small smile, hoping things would improve.

############

Sakuno tossed and turned inside her blanket, feeling annoyed and unable to sleep.

She took a deep breath and kicked the blankets from her body, looking at the ceiling.

At dinner time, Shinji asked if something had happened between her and Ryoma, since she was so strange around him lately. She was doing her best for her little brother not the realize her discomfort, but Sakuno forgot Shinji was a very sensitive child. She nervously smiled and gave him an excuse about Ryoma being busy with school, to try explaining his absence from their home.

It broke her heart Shinji was missing him so much. She hated that situation. The girl was missing him a lot as well, but she simply didn't know how to act around him. He was a whole different person on her eyes now.

" _I like you._ "

His gentle voice echoed on her mind for the millionth time and she felt like crying. She had no family, she had to take care of a small brother, she had no home of her own and she was always giving him nothing but trouble. What was there to like?

"Why things turned out this way?" she asked to herself, feeling extremely confused.

##########

Tomoka observed Ryoma sitting on a bench next to the library of school, looking anxiously at his cell phone. Classes had finished already and the school grounds were empty. He was waiting for Sakuno. She always stayed behind to study until the time to pick up Shinji at his own school. He needed to talk to her and it couldn't wait anymore.

"Ryoma, what are you doing?" the girl asked, sitting by his side.

"Go away." He said, without even looking at her.

"Are you still treating like that? I'm just worried about you."

"I don't need you to worry about me or talk to me. Please, go away."

"Do you ever wondered why did I cheat on you?!" she stood up, angrily. "Because you were a terrible boyfriend! I always tried my best but you never acknowledge it. You barely touched me, I was always your last option for spending time! You even pushed me away when we were alone in my house!'

"I was treating you with respect!" he stood up as well and had a deep frown on his face. "You should have told me before that you preferred me to treat you like a…!"

"Echizen-kun!" Sakuno's voice reached his ears and the boy turned around, surprised.

"Ryuzaki-san…"

"What are you doing?!" she got close to him, the scarlet eyes filled with disappointment. "You cannot talk to a girl like that!"

"Ryuzaki-san, you don't understand, I…"

"It has nothing to do with you."

"Shut up, Tomoka!" he said, angrily.

Sakuno walked away in hurry steps and Ryoma picked up his backpack, walking after her.

"Ryuzaki-san! Ryuzaki-san, please, I need to talk to you!"

She continued to walk away, the red bangs in front of her eyes.

"Sakuno!" he grabbed her wrist, making her stop. The girl turned around, angrily, releasing herself from his grip.

"Don't touch me!"

"Sakuno…" her eyes were glistering with tears.

"Is that what you mean when you said you liked me? That you want me to be your girlfriend?! Is that the way you wanted to treat me?!"

"Sakuno, you're wrong, I…"

"You were so selfish! Why did you tell me such a thing?! Why did you have to ruin everything?! You were my first friend… Why…?"

"Sakuno, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"I cannot be near you anymore." The way she looked at him made him heart tight. "If you talk to your ex-girlfriend like that, I don't want to be near you."

Ryoma stood there, unable to move or say anything else, while she walked away from him and he felt incredibly stupid.


	20. Chapter 20

"Ryoma-nii?" Shinji called him from the door of his room. Ryoma was studying and was surprised to see him. Another week had passed since the fight with Sakuno and things between them were worse than before.

"Oh, Shinji. Come in. Is everything all right?" the little boy sat by his side and looked at him worried.

"What happened between you and Nee-chan? She is acting weird. Did you two fight again?"

Ryoma felt horrible. He sent her a lot of messages since then and called as well, but she didn't reply.

"I'm sorry, Shinji. It's all my fault. I made a big mistake."

"Did you try giving cookies for her again?"

"I don't think cookies can fix things this time."

"You can always try ice cream too."

He chuckled sadly with his innocent words and touched his spiky soft hair.

"I hate this." The boy lowered his head. "Things are strange and I hate it. Nee-chan is always sad lately and I don't know how to make her feel better."

"Shinji…"

"You two need to make up!" he scolded him. "My teacher said it's no good to stay without talking!"

"I've tried, Shinji. Many times. But she doesn't talk to me. She doesn't even look at my face."

"Try again!" the boy stood up and looked at him with all the seriousness of his cute face. "Nee-chan can be very hardheaded and scary, but I'm sure she is missing you too!"

Ryoma showed him a small smile.

"Thank you, Shinji. I will try my best. I promise."

############

Sakuno was sitting on the outside back porch. It was late at night and Shinji was already sleeping. She had put the clothes on the washing machine, prepared their lunch for tomorrow and organized the kitchen. She had just finished to clean the wooden floor and was looking at the sky. There were no stars and the moon was hiding behind some dark clouds.

"Sakuno?" Ryoma appeared and looked at her with an hesitant expression. "Can we talk?"

"I'm busy." She was about to leave when he ran in front of her. "What are you doing?!"

"Please." The golden eyes were very hurt. "You said before I was your friend. Shinji was at my place earlier. He's sad. This thing between us is affecting him as well, it is not fair. I know you hate me right now, but, please. Let me just talk to you for a minute."

"I don't hate you." She lowered her head.

Ryoma didn't remember the last time they sat together like that. Althought the girl was a little distant from him, it was still a progress after so many silent days. Sakuno's head was down and the red bangs were over her face.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you before." She said, quietly. "I had no right."

"I'm also sorry you saw me losing my temper like that." He was sincere. "But, you know I would never talk to you like that, right? It's just…Tomoka, she…" Sakuno noticed the frown on his face and his fists closed tightly and finally looked straight at him.

"You cannot talk to any girl like that. Specially one you used to date. There is no excuse."

"You're right. I'm really sorry."

"I miss you. I miss the way things were between us before." She lowered her face again.

He was a little happy for listening to her words and showed her a small smile.

"I miss you too. I didn't plan this. I was quiet for a long time, because I didn't want to ruin things."

"What do you mean?" she looked at him surprised. "How long do you feel like this?!"

"Since when you had that fever."

"What?! That's so long!"

"I'm sorry."

"You have horrible taste, Echizen-kun." She lowered her head again. "And if something ever happened between us, you would realize it in no time." The scarlet eyes looked at him filled with tears. "There is nothing to like on me."

"You're wrong." he held her hand tightly, surprising her. "There is a ton of things I like about you. You're the best big sister ever; you're so intelligent and brave. And so hardworking. You've been through so many scary things and you're still such a great person. You've already taught me so much."

"Echizen-kun…"

"Even if you don't like me that way, please, don't stop being my friend. Don't look at me like I'm nothing but a nuisance. Please. I really miss sharing my days with you and Shinji."

"You're nothing like that. I was just… afraid. I didn't know how to behave. Every time I thought about you my heart felt like so tight inside my chest, like it was breaking." She placed her free hand over his one and squeezed gently. "It was not the first time someone confessed to me, but it was the first time I felt this way. And then, I realized it bothered me so much, because I… I… also like you."

"Eh?!" he looked at her in a terrible shock.

"I also didn't mean for this to happen!" she looked at him and her face had a deep blush all over it.

"You… you like me?"

"I do." She responded shyly, averting her eyes.

Ryoma hugged her very tight and Sakuno held her breath.

"Thank you, Sakuno."

"Do not thank me!" she pushed him away by his shoulders. "I would be a horrible girlfriend to you! You would regret it for sure!"

"I will not." He looked at her seriously. "I will never regret it."

"Ahhhh!" Sakuno hid her face on her hands. Was he always that handsome?! "Don't look at me like that!"

"Sakuno…" he caressed her hair and his voice was so sweet. "What are you saying? Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"I don't know." She finally looked at him again. "I don't know what to do. I'm so confused. I am a mess; my life is a mess, so…"

"Nothing has to change between us, aside from the fact we like each other." He showed her a small, gentle smile. "It's okay. Doing the things we did before it's perfectly fine. And I already know everything about you and your schedules, so I won't be a hassle for your studies. I promise."

"Is it really all right with you?"

"Yes." he said, gently. "I really like you."

Her heart skipped a beat and she touched his chest with her forehead, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Give me a trial time. Please. So I can get used to it."

"Okay." He hugged her, his chin on the top of her hair. Ryoma felt so happy! "As much time as you want."


	21. Chapter 21

Ryoma and Sakuno were studying together on the living room of the temple. They were sitting across from each other on the table. The boy was looking at her while she was concentrated, doing some math homework. Two weeks had passed by quickly. They returned to share meals and Shinji was very happy they made up. Ryoma also returned to accompanied Sakuno on dropping her little brother to school and picking him up.

There were no significant changes between them as a couple. The girl always blushed terribly if he looked at her too much or showed her a small smile. If they were too close, she would also get very embarrassed and Ryoma thought it was adorable. He wondered how long would take for her to get used to the girlfriend status. Echizen was a very respectful and patient young man, but he wanted to be able to touch her as a boyfriend someday.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked, with a blush on her face, when realizing the boy was looking at her.

"Nothing." He said, gently. "I like seeing you concentrated."

"Stop it." the girl averted her eyes and he smiled to himself.

"Hey, Sakuno, can we go out tomorrow?"

"Go out? For what?"

"I want to take you on a proper date." He showed her a small smile.

"Date?!"

"Can't we? We've been dating for two weeks already."

"But…but…"

The boy stood up and sat close to her.

"Calm down. It's nothing big. I just want to take you for a nice meal." The golden eyes were so kind.

"I'm sorry, but, I cannot let Shinji home alone."

"He can come, of course. It wouldn't be fun without him."

"You don't have to worry about this. I'm still on trial as a girlfriend, so…" he touched her hand.

"I told you I will give you all the time you need to get used to it, but I am serious about you. Let's do things together." He looked at her kindly. "We could use the opportunity to talk to Shinji about us. It's time, don't you think? You already didn't let me tell my parents."

"Ah, not yet! Please! If something goes wrong, he's going to be very hurt. I don't want that." she was worried.

"Stop being so gloomy." He said, gently. "We're going to be all right."

She blushed a little and averted her eyes, but he noticed a small smile on her features.

"Okay."

"You could at least call me by my name."

"Not yet!"

He chuckled.

"You know, Sakuno, you're very cute."

"Don't say such things!" she blushed entirely and averted her eyes.

###############

Sakuno took a deep, disappointed breath. She and Shinji were all ready to go out when a sudden summer storm started to fall. The girl looked to the dark skies and it didn't seem it was going to stop any time soon. Half an hour had passed already.

Ryoma had sent her a message when it started to rain, saying the plans for going out were cancel. Althought she was very nervous about it, Ryuzaki was actually excited over their first date. She spent a long time choosing an outfit. The girl was wearing a very beautiful dark blue dress reaching her knees and her hair was tight on ponytail.

"Nee-chan, what are we going to do now?" Shinji asked, also disappointed. He was so happy when Ryoma said they were going to have a special dinner.

"There's not much we can do." She smiled, trying to cheer him up. "I will make something for us, go change your clothes and put your pajamas already."

"Okay!"

Before she could reach the fridge, he heard the knock on the front door. It could only be one person.

"Echizen-kun?!"

"Can you open up, please?"

The girl obeyed and was very surprised to see the boy with a big box of pizza on his hands. He was completely soaked and looked at her gently.

"I brought dinner."

"Eh?!" the boy entered the home. "What… what do you mean?!"

"We have a date, remember?" he looked at the hallway and shouted. "Hey, Shinji! Pizza!"

"Really?!" the little boy appeared, already on his pajamas, with a big smile.

"But, you sent a message canceling!" Sakuno was really confused.

"Just going out." He showed her a small smile.

"Ryoma-nii, you are dripping!" Shinji appointed at him.

"I'm going home to change." He gave the pizza box to her brother. "Shinji, put it on the table please, I will be right back."

"Okay!"

########

Ryoma looked at his girlfriend with the corner of his eye. They were alone on the kitchen, doing the dishes. Shinji was already sleeping. They had a very nice dinner together and he was happy the girl was finally behaving normally around him while her brother was with them, but as soon as he left, she was very quiet and he felt a little worried.

"I am sorry, Sakuno. It was a bad first date, right?"

"What are you saying? It was perfect." she finally looked at him. "Don't apologize."

The scarlet eyes were sincere and gentle.

"I thought you were angry at me."

"I am not! I'm sorry it seemed like that, it's just…" she averted her eyes. "When we're alone together my heart beats very fast and I don't know how to act."

He felt happy.

"Thank you for inclunding Shinji tonight." her voice was gentle.

"I will always include him."

"Any other guy would probably find annoying to have a small kid around and just wanted to be alone together." She said, with a small smile.

"I know Shinji and you are inseparable and I respect that very much, even before we started dating. But…" the golden eyes were serious. "Can we sit and talk a little after we done here? I'm still like any other guy. I do want some alone time with you."

She averted her eyes and blushed but moved her head positively.

############

They finished to organize the kitchen and sat on the front porch. The rain had finally stopped and the sky was clear, but without stars.

"Such a strange rain today." The boy said, looking up.

"Indeed." She looked up as well.

"Sakuno, is that dress new? Did you wear it for me?"

"It's not new at all!" she blushed. "It's just… I don't use it so often, so…"

" You're very beautiful." He showed her a small smile.

"What do you want from me, Echizen-kun? You've dated before and you probably have some expectations, right?"

"Ah, well…" he thought about it for a moment. "I'd like us to do more things together. As long as they don't interfere on your studies, of course."

"Like what?"

"Anything. Just staying here, just the two of us talking, it's nice already."

"I'm a very boring person, you know. You will probably get tired of me soon."

"You're not boring at all. Stop saying such things."

The soft night wind with scented with rain touched them and made their hairs sway.

"The seasons are changing. What is going to happen when I go away? The contract at the temple is going to end soon."

"I'm not dating you just because you live next door. Are you going to stop talking to me after you move out?"

"Of…course not!" she blushed again, but this time she did not looked away.

"It's good then."

The girl lowered her face again and he noticed the sadness on her expression.

"What do we do from here? After a first date? I have no clue. I am so sorry."

Ryoma looked at her and his chest was tight. She was really trying her best with the tools she had. The dress, the preoccupation on the scarlet eyes. Sakuno cared. Even with so many responsibilities and worries, she made an effort to show him how much she cared.

His hand touched her face and the girl didn't blink when he got a little closer to her face.

"Sakuno, can I kiss you?" his voice was so gentle.

Ryuzaki's eyes were wider in absolute shock and the boy was sure she held a deep breath inside. Her whole body was stiff. But, even so, she moved her head positively and averted her face a little, closing her eyes tightly.

Echizen found absolutely adorable the way she was so nervous but, even so, allowed him to do such an intimate thing.

Sakuno looked at him, surprised, when she felt the soft kiss on her cheek and the boy showed her a small, gentle smile.

"What…?"

"Let's take it slow. I'm also on trial for boyfriend here."

"Echizen-kun…"

"First, I want you to feel at ease on calling me by my name."

The girl was so touched with his patience. She leaned her forehead on his chest and it surprised him a little.

"Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me, Sakuno." he said, kindly.


	22. Chapter 22

"I must admit I was very surprised when I saw your name on the list." The beautiful young woman with light blue eyes said, gently, after sitting down across from the teenager. Sakuno was finally having a meeting with her father's wife. "Can I call you Sakuno-san?"

"No problem." Sakuno replied politely. "Thank you for seeing me."

"I'm sorry it took so long. I looked the delay of your process. People at the Child's Service are commonly overwhelmed, but I will give a call to an acquaintance that works there. Maybe he can speed things a little.

"I really appreciate it."

"But, tell me about you. How are you and Shinji doing? You are currently working and living in a temple, right? Did something happen to your mother? Naoki will be very surprised to know about you coming here and..."

"Please, do not say anything to him. I don't want him to know." The scarlet eyes were serious. "Nothing happened to Kaa-san, she just left us for good and Tou-san knew about that. I texted and called to his number a lot of times, but he never picked up."

"What do you mean?" she was really surprised. "He knew about your situation? But he told me your mother forbid him to see you two. That was the reason you had no contact."

Sakuno smiled, sadly.

"It's expected. Tou-san is always lying." She looked at Jun seriously. "Did he tell you why he left us?"

"He told me your mother was unfaithful."

"Didn't he tell you he thought Shinji was not his? That is why I thought it was so strange when he came to me, all nice, asking for us to live with you guys, since you couldn't have children. And then, after I declined, he went after Shinji when he was alone. He cried so much, since he didn't remember him anymore and was all excited for nothing."

"I'm so sorry." She was sincere. "I had no idea."

"That's okay."

"But, Sakuno-san, tell me. Isn't this kind of life hard on you? To be a student and be obligated to raise a child? You have to worry about food and money. You're still so young. When I read your papers, you had so many part time jobs. I know we just met, and your father made big mistakes, but, wouldn't be easier to just accept some help? At least financially. You would have time to have a regular, easy going life, to dedicate to studies more. High school is difficult, college will be even harder, how are you going to manage that? And…"

"Shinji is not an obligation." There was a deep frown on her face. "We will never be apart. I will raise him properly until he doesn't need me anymore." She stood up. "And I will do it with my own strength."

"Sakuno-san, wait, please, do not be upset. Let me just…"

"I'm not upset, I just need to go home." She made a reverence. "I'm very grateful for the help you are giving me, but that is the only thing I need. Have a good day."

Jun watched the girl leave in hurried steps, before she could say anything else and took a deep, worried breath.

#############

"I'm home." She said, removing her shoes on the front door. It was night already. Since her meeting with her father's wife was after school, she asked Ryoma to take Shinji home and make him take a bath and eat. "Echizen-kun? Shinji?"

"In here!" her boyfriend's voice echoed from the kitchen. When Sakuno arrived, he was by the stove, preparing something. "Welcome home." He said, gently.

"Where's Shinji?" she asked, coming closer to him.

"Taking a bath and changing so we can have dinner. I'm making pasta with shrimps. Is that all right? When I was returning home with Shinji they were on sale at the market. It was super cheap."

His cooking skills had improved a lot lately. Sakuno didn't know but, on his free time at home, Ryoma would practice different recipes so he could help her out with the meals too. He would invite Momoshiro over to be his guinea pig.

"Thank you, Echizen-kun." She showed him a small smile and Ryoma knew something was wrong.

"Hey, are you okay?" he turned around, worried, after turning the stove off. "How was the meeting at…"

"Nee-chan, you're home!" Shinji appeared on the kitchen, wearing a light-yellow pajama with little ducks printed on the fabric. "Welcome back! Wow, it smells great, Ryoma-nii!"

"Shinji, can you help me set the table, please?"

"Yes, Nee-chan!" he smiled, happily.

Ryoma knew her well enough already to realize when she was hiding something on her smiles. They had dinner and Shinji told her about his day and the swimming classes he had on school. The little boy was really excited about it.

After Shinji went to bed, they were on the kitchen organizing things. He was washing the dishes and looked at his girlfriend while she was preparing some onigiri for their lunch tomorrow.

"Sakuno, you can tell me when you are upset or worried." His voice was so gentle. "I'm here for you. I know you sometimes put a strong façade because of Shinji, but there's no need to do that with me."

The girl looked at him surprised for a moment, before lowering her head, the red bangs in front of her eyes. She knew Ryoma was being sincere but, she didn't want to bring her problems to their relationship again. And she really didn't want to think about that conversation anymore.

Sakuno cleaned her hands and Echizen was very surprised when he felt her arms around his body, hugging him tightly.

"Sakuno?"

"Thank you for the help today. And for the dinner as well. It was very good." Her voice was so sweet. "Can I stay like this while you finish the dishes?"

"Su...sure." He wondered if she could hear his heart. It was beating like wild drums.

"Echizen-kun, I really appreciate everything you do for Shinji and me. Even before we were dating." She leaned her cheek on his back. "We are very lucky to have you."

"Tell me what happened today. Please."

"Let's have another date." She said, quickly and he noticed she didn't want to talk about it. "Just you and me this time. What do you think?"

"Sakuno, you don't have to feel force to…"

"I'm not." She tightened the embrace on his torso. "Please. I need some… normality on my life."

"Okay. Whatever you need."

"Thank you." She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of his back and Ryoma never took so long on washing some dishes.


	23. Chapter 23

"I'm home!" Naoki said, with a smile, when he entered the big apartment. "Jun, are you here?"

"Welcome home." His wife appeared, with a small smile, drying her hands on a kitchen cloth. "Dinner is almost ready."

"Oh, you cooked today." He came close and kissed her on the cheek. "That's unusual."

"It's has been a while since we ate at home." she caressed his face. "Go take a shower, dinner will be done in a minute."

"Okay."

Jun set the table with the dishes and waited patiently for her husband to return. When Naoki returned, she was already sitting, drinking a glass of wine slowly.

"The smell is great, Jun." there was some grilled beef, pasta and steam vegetables.

"Sit down and enjoy." She said, gently.

"Thank you for the food." He said, before picking up the hashi and start serving himself. "So, tell me about your day. How was work?"

"Very interesting." She drank another sip of wife. "I have a new client now, from the low-income list."

"Is that so?" he asked, between bites.

"Yes." The blue eyes looked at him seriously. "A teenager that has a younger brother. She was abandoned by their parents."

"Oh, that sounds awful." He said, continuing to eat.

Jun smiled at the irony.

"Her name is Ryuzaki Sakuno."

Her husband coughed when hearing his child's name. Jun stood up and went to rub his back, slowly.

"Be careful, dear."

"What do you mean?!" he looked at her shocked. "Sakuno talked to you?!"

"Yes." She sat down by his side. "She's a great kid, you know. I saw her school reports and she is always top student. She also has great recommendation letters from her part time jobs. She is currently in the process to receive her emancipation." Her voice was so calm. "She did it because she was afraid you would take Shinji away from her. She told me about what you did. So, how would you do it, Naoki? Would you bring your son wrapped in a gift paper when I arrived home?"

"It's not like that! I…."

"How long do you know about your children situation? All the times I asked you about them, you told me your ex-wife didn't send you any news. Do you know they were hungry and homeless, and you did nothing?"

"You have no idea how things were when I left! She cheated on me! I thought Shinji was not my child, I was angry, I…"

She caressed his face.

"There are no excuses for abandoning them." The blue eyes narrowed. "None."

She picked up her wine glass and poured some more of the red liquid.

"That is what we are going to do. I will help your daughter to get her emancipation. You will never get near them. Ever. That girl deserves some peace of mind." She looked at him again. "And I will think about a fair compensation for all the years you were absent. Not only your parental abandonment, but also, the lack of financial help for all the years your children needed you."

"What are you saying?! You are going to sue your own husband?!"

She drank the full cup slowly, before answering.

"Oh, Naoki, you're lucky I love you. Otherwise I would also divorce you. Not only you lied to me, you were also the most terrible father."

His wife stood up and turned her back to him.

"I'm tired. Please, clean up things. I'm going to bed."

"Jun, wait, you need to give me a chance to explain, I…"

"Do not follow me." She looked at him with the corner of her eye, seriously. "Sleeping on the coach for a while will be good for you."

###########

"Echizen-kun?" Sakuno appeared on Ryoma's living room. She had a cup of hot chocolate on her hands, since it started to get a little chilly. It was after dinner time and three days had passed since her meeting with the lawyer. She smiled gently at seeing him. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, Sakuno." He was sitting by a short table, studying. "Sure."

"I made it early for Shinji before bedtime and I saved you a cup." She said, before sitting across from him and putting the cup in front of him.

"Thanks." He said, gently, before drinking a sip. "It's very good."

"It's unusual seeing you studying at such hour." she noticed he was answering some homework.

"I wanted to have the weekend free." He showed her a small smile. "What do you think about the aquarium?"

"What about it?"

"For our next day." He smiled gently at her. "You were the one who asked for it, right?"

"Ah!" she blushed. "That… that's right."

"I figured it would be okay, since the test results are out, and you got the best grades in school." He put the cup down on the table and came to sit by her side.

"I just studied, that's all." She averted her eyes.

"Can you take Sunday off from the books? We can go early and have lunch out too. I can ask Momoshiro to be with Shinji."

"Okay." She replied, quietly.

"We can cancel if you changed your mind."

"No!" she looked at him again. "I want to go!"

He had a satisfied look on his face, but before he could say something, his phone started to vibrate on the table.

"It's Kaa-san." He said, before picking up and putting on speaker. "Hello, Kaa-san."

"Ryoma, hi!" she sounded happy. "How are you? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine. Sakuno is here as well."

"Good evening, Echizen-san."

"Oh, great!" his father spoke. "We wanted to speak with both of you. Are you at the temple now?"

"Ah, we…"

"We're studying together!" she responded, embarrassed, interrupting him and Ryoma chuckled silently.

"Ryuzaki-san, we have a proposition for you. Rinko received a request from work to make another photography series, but we wanted to know you are available to live in the temple for a little more."

"More time? What are you going to do, Kaa-san?" Ryoma asked.

"A series about fall and winter, covering different Christmas preparations as well."

"All the way to Christmas?" the boy asked, surprised.

"I know it's a lot of time, but I told them I need to be home at Christmas Eve at least, so we could spend it with you."

"So, you want me to live in the temple until there?"

"Can you, Ryuzaki-san?" Nanjirouh asked. "It would help us a lot."

"Sure!" she was excited. "It would really help me out as well!"

"It's decided then." Rinko said. "Thank you so much, Ryuzaki-san."

"Send Shinji our regards! We will call you later, son!" Nanjirouh said. "Behave yourself!"

"Sure, sure." Ryoma said, before they turned off the phone.

He looked at her and his girlfriend was grinning, already doing a lot of math on her mind, moving her fingers quickly.

"Are you happy?" he smirked.

"Yes!" her eyes were sparkling. "With this extra money, I can save more until the end of the year!"

"Oh." He faked some disappointment. "I thought you were happy because we would be able to spend more time together here."

"Eh?!" she felt so guilty. "I'm sorry! Of course I'm happy for this as well, I…

He touched her face and caressed his cheek.

"It's okay. I'm just teasing you." His voice was so gentle.

"Don't do that!" she blushed entirely. "I always worry if I'm being a good girlfriend."

Echizen was surprised for a moment, before leaning his forehead on hers. Her heart skipped a beat when she looked at him.

"You're the best girlfriend, Sakuno. Don't worry about it." The golden eyes were so kind.

The girl was a little hesitant before cupping his face.

"You're the best boyfriend too, Echizen-kun." She showed him a small smile before hugging him by his shoulders.

Ryoma felt extremely happy. It was the first time she ever hugged him. He hoped they would continue on those small, unhurried steps on the extra months they would share from now on.


	24. Chapter 24

It was lunch time on Friday and Shinji was sitting by himself on a corner of his classroom. He was always alone since he enrolled on that new school. The little boy looked at his lunch and there was a smile on his face. His sister had prepared sausages shaped like octopus, onigiri with seaweed in the format of a panda and steamed colorful vegetables.

"Thank you for the food." He said, quietly, to himself, before starting to eat.

When he finished the first onigiri, three boys came closer and they had mean smiles on their faces.

"Why are you smiling by yourself, Ryuzaki?" the taller boy said.

"Ah, look at his girly obento for today!" the chubby one pointed at his food.

"You sure are your sister's baby!" the last boy, with glasses, laughed.

Shinji shrank on his sit. It was not the first time the boys would pick on him. They would always do it when the teachers were not around. Since the day they found out he had no parents around and lived with his sister, they would bully him.

After the situation with their father, he didn't want to give Sakuno any problems, so he kept quiet. He tried to do his best, even though he didn't understand why he was treated like that. First it was the teasing, but then, it started to get worse. They would scribe on his notebook or would make him clean the classroom alone when it was their duty as well. They would push him during physical education and Shinji hid the real reasons for scrapped knees and elbows, making Sakuno believe he was just clumsy.

Suddenly, the boy with glasses grabbed his obento.

"Give it to me! It looks good!"

"No!" Shinji protested. "It's the only food I have, please!"

"What?" the taller boy said, pushing him. "Are you going to cry, baby?"

"I will have nothing to eat all day." He said, quietly, looking down.

"Too bad you're poor." The chubby said, before starting to eat the food with the others. When he finished, they threw the obento on his lap, before laughing while going out of the room.

No one of his classmates that were there meddled. He looked down, his small fists trembling while he was making a lot of effort to not cry.

##########

"Yo." Ryoma said, showing Shinji a small smile. He was waiting him on the gates when the classes were over. Even if the boy was already old enough to walk by himself, he really liked to go home with his sister and Echizen.

But, on that afternoon, instead of the happy smiles he always showed before holding Ryoma's hand, the teenager noticed there was something wrong and the green eyes had a hint of sadness.

"Hello, Ryoma-nii."

"Hey, are you okay?"

He just moved his head positively.

"Where's Nee-chan?"

"She had to do something on school. But she will be home to dinner time."

"Okay." He replied, quietly and Ryoma was sure something was wrong when the boy didn't hold his hand.

##########

"Shinji, slow down." His sister smiled at him. They were around the table. He was starving and didn't even realize he was eating so fast.

"I'm sorry." He lowered his head and started to eat slowly.

"So, how was school today?" Sakuno asked, before eating some fish.

"Fine." He replied, without looking at her, his head down to his bowl.

"Hey, Shinji, you have a swimming competition coming, right?" he continued to practice the sport on weekends now. "Are you excited?"

"I guess." He shrugged, before putting the bowl and hashi on the table.

Ryoma and Sakuno looked at each other, worried.

"Shinji, are you okay? Did something happen today?"

"Nothing." He looked at her again. "Can I be excused? I finished already." The food had a bad taste on his mouth.

"Don't you want to help me with your obento for tomorrow?" she smiled and touched his small hand. "I was thinking about making pasta and…"

His little heart raced with the possibility of those boys ruin his food again. The food his sister worked so hard to put on their table and prepared with so much care.

He removed his hand quickly and stood up.

"I don't want it!"

"What do you mean, Shinji?" Ryoma asked, they were both surprised.

"I don't need your food anymore, Nee-chan!" he said, before rushing to his room.

"Shinji!" Sakuno ran to his room and opened the closed shoji, looking at him. They boy was sitting on his bed, hugging his pillow tight. "What happened? Why are you behaving so strange?! You were incredibly rude!"

"Stop preparing my lunch!" he said, angrily, the green eyes glistering with tears. "I don't want you to waste your time!"

"Where is this coming from?" she got close and sat in front of him, cupping his face. "What are you talking about?"

Ryoma was on the hallway, looking at the scene without meddling.

"I hate this!" it was the first time Sakuno saw her brother with such angry expression, but the little boy was just feeling extremely powerless. "Why can't I have a mother and a father like everyone else?!"

If their parents were around, he could ask for help to deal with the situation at the school, without putting more weight on his sister's shoulders.

"Shinji…" Sakuno felt so sad.

"I hate this." He whispered, before lowering his head and Sakuno noticed the small shoulders trembling before the tears started to fall.

Echizen wanted to enter the room and talk to him, but he stood on his place.

His girlfriend hugged her little brother tightly, caressing his red hair and Shinji was surprised at first.

"I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry."

He sobbed with her words, feeling even more useless for making his sister look so heartbroken.

Her gentle hands cupped his face and her thumb dried his tears, before she smiled.

"Don't cry, please. It's okay. No more obentos from now on. I will give you money for your lunch. Don't worry."

"Nee-chan…"

Sakuno kissed his forehead, before standing up.

"Go brush your teeth before going to bed. Good night, Shinji. Sleep well."

###########

Ryoma looked at his girlfriend. The scarlet eyes were glistering with the faint blue light coming from the inside of the water tank. They were finally on their date, at Sumida Aquarium. He had told her on the night before they could cancel if she wanted to. Things between Shinji and Sakuno were still not right. But Ryuzaki told him it was all right. They left home after Momoshiro and Ann arrived to spend some time with the boy. Sakuno and Ryoma prepared lunch for them and they left after it. It was the first time Shinji was not excited about spending time with Momo-chan.

Sakuno was very silently for all their ride to the aquarium and he noticed her thoughts were lost somewhere else while looking at the multicolored fishes.

He held her hand and the girl was a little surprised.

"Are you okay?" he asked, gently.

"I'm fine." She showed him a small smile.

"Let's see the penguins on the other side. We can sit there for a while."

"Okay."

He was happy she didn't let go of his hand. They sat in front of the penguin's tank. Some of them were on the dry area and others were swimming happily before them.

"They walk so strange." The boy said, trying to make her smile, but with no results.

"Echizen-kun."

"Yes?"

"Thank you for our date." She squeezed his fingers a little. "I'm sorry I'm not being a good company, even though I was the one who asked for it."

"It's okay. I understand. There's no way you could be okay after what happened."

"I've being thinking about it for a while, but…" she lowered her head. "What if Shinji hates me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What if I'm being selfish, making all the decisions on our lives? On his life. I was the one who decided we weren't going to wait for our mother anymore, I was the one who refused our father. I made the decision of living in the temple and changing his school. Not once I asked him what he thought about it."

He held her hand with both of his and she looked at him.

"Sakuno, selfish is a word that cannot ever be used to you." He showed her a small smile. "I've only seen and known a fraction of all the things you do for Shinji, to keep him safe and happy. I can't even imagine all the other things you went through."

"But…"

"You're the oldest. Of course you were the one who was supposed to make decisions. And I'm sure you always chose the best for him." His thumb caressed the back of her hand. "You know, I think something happened at his school. He was not well when I picked him up. Maybe you can ask him what happened. Now that I think of, Shinji never talked about his classmates or making friends at school, right? Just at the swimming lessons."

"Do you think he is having problems there?" she was so worried.

"Some kids can be cruel sometimes."

She took a deep breath. They were alone on that part of the aquarium and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I will go there and check. Thank you for telling me."

"Don't mention it."

They continued to watch the penguins and Sakuno finally smiled.

"They're very funny!"

The boy kissed the back of her hand and the girl blushed a little before leaning her head on him again. They continued to be there, enjoying their first real date.

############

They returned home when the sun was about to set. Ryoma asked her if they could go to the temple from his home, so they could spend a little more time together.

They had visited all the parts in the aquarium and Echizen took his girlfriend to eat some dessert before going home. He was relieved she was finally on her usual self. He watched, amused, as she happily ate a piece of strawberry cake.

"Thank you for everything today, Echizen-kun." She smiled at him. They were sitting on the stairs of his home. She was so beautiful with the orange lights over her semblance. "I'm sorry I always burden you with my problems."

"Stop saying that." He touched the top of her head. "You're always helping me out as well. You're the reason I don't starve to death and my grades improved too."

The girl giggled.

"So, tomorrow it will be our first month as a couple."

"Eh?! Already?!"

"Yes." He was a little surprised. "Did you forget? I though that was also the reason you wanted to go on a date."

"I'm so sorry! I really forgot! I'm such a bad girlfriend!" she averted her eyes. "I need to keep track of this things, maybe to write down somewhere, I…"

He leaned forward and his forehead toched hers, making Sakuno look straight at him.

"What are you saying? Do you want to celebrate more anniversaries with me?"

She blushed entirely and was embarrassed.

"Of… of course! I know I am still clueless about some things, but, I… I really…"

Ryoma touched her face and his thumb brushed her cheek gently.

"Thank you, Sakuno."

She smiled shyly.

"Thank you too, Echizen-kun, for this first month. Let's get along in the future as well."

His heart skipped a beat. He was sure that there was no one cuter than his girlfriend.

"Sakuno?"

"Yes?"

"Can I kiss you?" he asked, seriously. Since he had already done it on the past, she just smiled kindly, before agreeing. She was expecting another kiss on her cheek.

The scarlet eyes were wide in absolute surprise when the boy's mouth touched hers. It was soft, gentle and so real.

When he distanced himself, her face was completely red, the same color of her hair and Sakuno forgot how to breath. She lowered her head, without being able to look at him, her heart was beating like crazy.

Ryoma was worried with her reaction and investigated her expression.

"Sakuno, are you angry?"

She couldn't find the words to respond. She grabbed her hands together tightly and Echizen felt horrible.

"I'm sorry, I…" his voice was so sad.

"I'm sorry!" she finally looked at him. "I didn't know what to do, I…"

The teenager was surprised for a moment, before he chuckled.

"Don't laugh at me!" she blushed even more.

He hugged her tightly.

"I'm not laughing at you." His voice was so gentle. "I'm just relieved you wont punch me on the face."

"I would never do that!" she pushed him a little inside his embrace and finally looked at him. "I'm sorry I was bad at it."

"Not bad at all." He showed her a small smile. "I want to do it again. Many times."

Her hand was on his face and she pushed him away again.

"Not now! My heart won't take it!"

"Okay, okay." he replied kindly, before hugging her from her side, his chin on the top of her hair.

They continued to watch the sun setting for a while, enjoying that little private moment and the new milestone of their relationship while the skies and colors were changing around them.


	25. Chapter 25

"So, how was your date?" Momoshiro asked with a silly grin. He and Ryoma were having a snack together. Sakuno told him she would pick up Shinji after classes, so he arranged to see his friend.

"It went well." He said, before drinking some soda and Takeshi noticed the very discreet smile on his face.

"Oh! It seems things improved between you guys! What happened?"

"None of your business." He responded drily.

"You're so boring, Ryoma." He made a face before eating part of his sandwich. "So, how's Shinji doing? He was so quiet for the whole time we were there. Ann and I tried to cheer him up and play, but he just stayed in his room."

"Sakuno is going to talk to him today. I hope she finds out what's going on."

"Don't you think it's about time you tell him about you guys? And for your parents as well?"

"I'm respecting Sakuno's wishes." He took a deep breath. "But I think it will be worse if Shinji founds out by accident. He could think we were lying to him."

"Does she have any news about her paperwork?"

"Not yet. That really stresses her out, even if she doesn't say it. But, I'm sure things will work out fine. They deserve some peace, after everything they went through."

"Ah! I almost forgot, I brought you something." He picked up a small brochure from his jacket and showed to his friend.

"Fall festival?" he read it. "Are you going?"

"Ann thought it was a good idea for us to go with you guys and Shinji too!" he elbowed his friend. "Don't you wanna see your girlfriend in a cute yukata?!"

He averted his face, trying to hide his embarrassment over the idea.

"I… will talk to her about it."

Momoshiro laughed at his shyness, before continuing to eat.

###############

Sakuno was almost at Shinji's school when she saw her brother alone on the small playground in front of the building. He was on swing, looking at the ground with a sad expression on his face.

"Shinji?" the boy looked up at hearing her voice on the other side of the short fence and Sakuno noticed his green eyes were filled with tears.

"Nee-chan…"

"Shinji, what happened?!" she entered the place and kneeled in front of him, cupping his face. There was a bruise on his cheek and his hands and knees had reddish bruises too. "Did someone hurt you?!"

"I'm okay!" he stood up, quickly, rubbing his hands on his face to weep away his tears. "I just feel again during playtime!"

"Shinji…"

"Let's go home!" he smiled, trying to undo her worried face. "Ryoma-nii is waiting for us, right?"

His round eyes were wide in surprise when his sister hugging him tightly. Sakuno's hand was on his fluffy hair.

"I'm so sorry, Shinji." Her voice shattered. "I didn't realize it sooner. But, please, talk to me!" she looked at him, her thumb brushing on his injured cheek. "I'm here for you. I will always be here for you, so you don't have to feel like you are by yourself!"

The strong façade he was carrying for so long on his small shoulders crumbled. He boy sobbed and the big tears rolled down his face. He hugged his sister tightly; his whole body was trembling out of pure relief.

"I… I'm so tired, Nee-chan! I'm hungry too!"

"There, there…" she caressed his hair. "Let's talk, okay? Tell me everything."

###########

Ryoma looked at Shinji while he ate dinner with all his might. The boy was taking big portions with his hashi and putting on his mouth like there was no tomorrow. He wasn't even chewing properly.

"Shinji, do you want more eggs?" Sakuno smiled, offering the fried eggs to him and he picked two of them, mixing on the rice and eating in a mouthful.

"Is this really all right?" Echizen whispered to his girlfriend. He was sitting by her side, looking at the boy sitting across from them. And Sakuno had a strangely calm air all around her.

"It's fine." She smiled at him.

"Ah, it was so good!" Shinji finally stopped eating and he put his bowl down, rubbing his belly with a content smile. "Thank you for dinner, Ryoma-nii!"

"You… you're welcome." He was so confused. "So, are you two all right? Can someone tell me what's going on?"

"Shinji was being bullied at school." Sakuno said, quietly, with a small smile on her face looking at her brother. "They hurt him and stole his food for a long time already. And he felt like he couldn't tell me. He didn't want to bother me."

"Shinji, I'm so sorry." He felt horrible.

"It's okay, Ryoma-nii. Nee-chan talked to my teacher."

"Their parents were called and we're having a meeting tomorrow."

"I see."

"And, I also want to try something, Ryoma-nii."

"What is it?"

"I will study hard to try a scholarship to Seigaku as well." He grinned. "I will do my best so we can all be together."

"Really?" he looked at his girlfriend and she smiled. "That's great."

"Shinji, do you want to help me with lunch for tomorrow?"

"Yes!" he grinned happily before picking his dishes and put them on the sink. "Can we have spaguetti?"

"Sure, but, there is something else we need to talk about. Can you come here?" she asked, gently and the boy returned and sit in front of her.

"What is it?"

Sakuno took a deep breath, before she held Ryoma's hand and the teenager was very surprised.

"What are you doing?"

"Shinji, Echizen-kun and I are dating." The scarlet eyes were serious.

"Really?! You're boyfriend and girlfriend now?!"

"Ye…yes." She blushed entirely but didn't let go of his hand. "I really like him. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but I don't want any secrets between us anymore."

"That's great!" he grinned. "I always worried you were lonely, Nee-chan! This way you're not alone anymore!"

"Eh?" the girl was speechless.

Shinji got close to Ryoma and looked at him seriously.

"Ryoma-nii, do you like my sister? For real?!"

"Hm." He squeezed her hand a little and Sakuno's heart raced. "I really like her."

"Take good care of her when I'm not around. Promise?" he offered his pinky to him and Echizen's golden eyes were gentle.

"I promise." He locked their fingers together and Shinji was so happy.

#############

Sakuno took a deep, relieved breath before laying on the floor. They were still on the temple and Shinji had gone to bed after they arranged breakfast and lunch for the next day.

"I thought my heart would stop!"

Her boyfriend chuckled before laying by her side.

"I still can't believe you told him like that."

"I cannot expect him to tell me things if I am keeping things from him."

"Can I tell my parents then?"

"Not yet!" she blushed.

"Okay. Thank you for today. It was a great way to celebrate out first month together."

The scarlet eyes looked inside the golden eyes and Sakuno hesitated a little before touching her boyfriend's face.

"I'm happy." Her thumb brushed his cheek. "On being your girlfriend, Echizen-kun."

Ryoma's chest was tight and warmed with her words and the sweet way she looked at him. He showed her a small smile before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.


	26. Chapter 26

Sakuno woke up slowly. It was Saturday, so she always gave herself a little extra time before getting up. Another week had passed quickly. Things with Shinji were well at school again and everything was fine. She went to her brother's room and the boy was still asleep as well. He was spread on his futon, his mouth wide opened and a hand on his belly. She smiled to his relaxed features. She would wake him up on breakfast time.

Her mind was listing the things she needed to do. Laundry, food, cleaning the bathroom. She was wearing a long light blue pajama with white vertical stripes. Fall was there for good and the days were chilly. They had started to wear the winter uniform at Seigaku and long black socks above her knees she blushed when Ryoma said she looked cute.

The teen looked at the short table and realized she had not picked up the mail from the day before. She left to the front garden and picked up the correspondences on the mail box before rushing inside home.

"Why is so cold?" she complained, looking at the letters. She grinned when saw a new booklet of cupons for the supermarket, already imagining doing groceries for the week. There were some bills and there was a big, white envelope in the middle of everything.

Her eyes were wide in absolute surprise when she saw the name of the sender. She abandoned the other letters on the table and opened the envelope with trembling hands, starting to read the words she had waited for so long.

The girl opened and closed the door in a rush, before running to Ryoma's house, a big smile on her face.

###########

Ryoma was at the kitchen, having breakfast. Since his girlfriend would always sleep a little late on weekends, he ate by himself at home to not disturb her. He was eating some fruits slowly.

The door opened suddenly and he forgot how to swallow.

"Echizen-kun, it's here! It's finally here!"

Her boyfriend started to cough and she ran to him, rubbing his back.

"I'm sorry I scared you!"

"It's… it's okay." He said, breathing slowly. "So, what happened?"

"The emancipation documents!" she showed the paperwork to him. "It's all done! I'm an adult now, for real!"

"That's great, Sakuno." He showed her a small smile. "Congratulations."

"Thank you so much for all your support." She gave him a tight hug. She was so happy. "I'm really grateful."

"You're welcome." His voice was very gentle. "So, what are you doing now?"

"I need to go and talk to the lawyer about adopting Shinji for good."

"Do you think it will be difficult?" she raised her face to him and smiled.

"Not at all, since we are siblings for real and I have proof I have been taking care of him by myself for a long time."

"That's good then." He caressed her hair.

"I need to start looking for a place for us and making budgets for rent, furniture and stuff. I wonder if I can find something on Sunday's newspaper and…"

"You still have a couple of months. There's no hurry to do it." he was trying to put her at ease, but he looked at her, he noticed the sadness on the scarlet eyes.

"Of course there is." She said, seriously. "I have been working hard to achieve this for a long time already."

"I know, Sakuno, I was just…"

"Maybe you don't understand because you always had a roof over your head and a bed to sleep, but it wasn't the same for us." She pressed the envelope on her chest and averted her face. "Here is not our home. It's my job. And we've always dream of a place to call our own."

"Sakuno, calm down, I…"

"Don't tell me to calm down! You're the one who's making fun of me!"

"I'm not doing such thing." The boy wanted to hold her hand but she distanced herself abruptly.

"I'm going home. I'm sorry for disturbing you." She left in angry, heavy steps, before he could say anything else and Ryoma felt extremely confused.

##################

The weekend passed by terribly slowly before Monday came. Echizen had sent his girlfriend many messages, but she didn't reply to any of them, so he thought it was the best to let her be for a while. Shinji spent some time at his place on Sunday and, thankfully, the boy didn't notice anything strange otherwise he would be worried.

When he left home to school, Sakuno had already gone and she avoided eye contact with him since he got at their class. It was a horrible atmosphere. He kept looking at her during classes, begging she would at least look at him, but she acted like he didn't exist.

Sakuno disappeared during break time and he went after her. He found his girlfriend on the library, looking at some books. He took a deep breath and walked towards hers, before holding her hand tightly and pulling her to the back of the room.

"Echizen-kun!" she whispered, very surprised. "What are you doing?!"

He turned around and looked at her seriously, but the girl noticed the golden eyes were pained.

"I don't want to break up. You cannot do it by yourself."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, I really didn't mean it. But, you have no right of breaking up with me without giving me a chance to…"

"I don't want to break up either. Why are you talking about such a thing?"

"But… you were mad at me, right? And you were avoiding me, I thought…"

"I'm sorry!" she lowered her face. "I was not avoiding you; I just didn't know how to face you, Echizen-kun."

"I don't understand."

"I'm sorry I lost my temper and stormed out. I told you before I'm really bad at dealing with people. That's why I ask for a trial time to be a proper girlfriend. I also have a bad temper, so… I had to take some time to create a proper apology to you."

Her words stopped when the boy cupped her face and kissed her seriously. Sakuno tried to push him away since they were in the library but he just pressed his taller body on hers, making her still. Her heart was beating to the point of hurting inside of her chest when their mouths finally separated and Ryoma looked at her.

"I will help you with everything you need to find a good place and move out. I'm proud of you, Sakuno. I just said those things so you wouldn't worry over things in advance, because I know you do. You don't sleep or eat properly when you're stressed, so I was just worried about you."

"Echizen-kun…" she smiled gently at him. "Thank you."

"So you're really not breaking up with me?"

"Not at all." The scarlet eyes were sincere.

He released a deep, long breath and his back leaned on the door.

"I'm so relieved." Sakuno's forehead touched his chest and she smiled to herself.

"Thank you for worrying about me and talking to me."

"I was a bad boyfriend before." He hugged her. "I don't want to make any mistakes with you. I really like you, Sakuno."

"I like you too, Echizen-kun." Her voice was very sweet.

"I was happy when you were at my place like that. You were so cute on those pajamas."

"What?!"

"Don't you remember? You stormed inside wearing just pajamas. I imagined you were very excited and forgot about changing to regular clothes but you were so cute I kept quiet."

"Why did you do such a thing?!" her face was deep red, but before she could walk away, Ryoma held her hand gently.

"Let's go on another date." He showed her a small smile. "I've wanted to talk to you about it for a while. There will be a fall festival soon."

"Fall festival?"

"Momoshiro told me about it. It is in a park on his neighborhood. There is a lot of good food. I think Shinji would like it."

"I want to go!" she smiled happily. "Shinji never had a chance to use a yukata before, I can finally buy one for him!"

"Do you have one?" he asked with a small smile. "I want to see you in one."

She blushed entirely again and averted her face, feeling extremely embarrassed.

"Why do you always tease me, Echizen-kun?!"

The boy chuckled and leaned his forehead on hers, making her look at him again.

"I'm not teasing you. You look good on anything. You're beautiful, Sakuno."

Her heart turned around with the way the golden eyes looked at her and the girl placed a soft kiss on him.

On the other side of the shelves, Tomoka's dark eyes narrowed. She was looking for some math books when she recognized their voices and followed the sound. The girl only heard the last part of their conversation about the date. There were some rumors about them, but she didn't want to believe it. Where were those gentle words and voice when they were dating? Ryoma had never called her beautiful, not even once in all the time they were together. Her fists were closed tightly and she left the hallway on the edge of tears, her heart filled with anger.


	27. Chapter 27

"Echizen-kun?" Sakuno called her boyfriend after knocking on the door. It was Friday night and he asked her to go to his place after they had dinner on the temple. He helped her with the dishes and went home while she took a bath and said goodnight to Shinji.

"I 'm on the kitchen, come in."

"Did something happen?." She asked, before entering and stopped, surprised. Her boyfriend was sitting by the dining table with a small smile. There was a beautiful small cake topped with red berries and covered in white frosting. "What is this?!"

"Sit here." Ryoma tapped on a place by his side. She obeyed and looked at him confused.

"It's my apology for last week. I'm sorry I didn't do it earlier, but we had no time to be alone."

"Echizen-kun, you shouldn't have! I told you I was the one who overreacted, so…"

"Please." the golden eyes were kind. "Accept it, Sakuno. Also, this is the type of cake we always pass by at the store going to school and I see the way you look at it. You wanted to try, right?"

She blushed and averted her face.

"You really shouldn't have!"

He chuckled, before cutting the cake and placing a slice in front of her.

"My pleasure. Let me spoil you sometimes. I wasn't able to do it before."

The girl looked at him still embarrassed and picked up the fork hesitanly to have a bite.

"So? Is it good?"

"So good!" she answered after eating another piece. Her scarlet eyes were sparkling. "Can I take some to Shinji? He's gonna love this!"

"Sure." He said, before having a slice on his plate and eating too. "That's good indeed."

"Right?! I wonder if I can make one." She started to look at the cake, trying to understand what was in there. "The filling is red berries jam, but I wonder if making the sponge cake would be difficult."

"Would you do it for me? On my birthday?"

"Yes! But I don't know it would be any good."

"I'm sure it will be a great."

"Thank you so much, Echizen-kun." She kissed his cheek. "It's the first time someone did this for me."

"So, would you accept something else?"

"What do you mean?"

"Close your eyes." He had a very amused look on his face.

"But, why?!"

"Please." he asked kindly.

Sakuno took a deep breath before obeying. Ryoma returned briefly and sat in front of her again.

"You can see it now."

"What's this?" there was a medium size horizontal box on in front of her. It was red and with a white bow on top.

"It's a gift. Open up."

The girl carefully opened the box and her heart almost fell from her chest. There was a beautiful yukata inside. It was turquoise blue with white maple leaves on it and the obi was white as well.

"Did you like it? Shinji told me you didn't buy a yukata for yourself when you got his this week, so…"

Sakuno closed the box quickly and pushed it to him.

"I can't accept such a thing! It's too expensive!" she blushed completely.

"I was saving up to buy you something nice. I didn't get you anything on our first month and we're going to be together for two months soon."

"I'm not dating you so you can buy me things!" Sakuno lowered her head and he noticed how uncomfortable she was.

Ryoma held both of her hands and tried to investigate her expression, but the red bangs were over her eyes.

"Sakuno, it's not really a big deal. I know you're not used to, but it's normal between couples. And, I want you to enjoy the festival completely. Shinji told me you guys never did such things. I want you to create new memories."

"I'm not going to be able to give you such gifts. I have to worry about budgets and…"

"I know." He squeezed her fingers gently and the girl looked at him. "I'm not asking for such a thing. You feed me almost every day, you help me with school and you agreed to be my girlfriend. I'm completely satisfied."

"Echizen-kun, it's still too much."

"What do you think of making this a present to more special days, then?"

"What do you mean?"

"I will get you nothing for Christmas and your birthday as well. And for the next anniversaries until next year."

"You promise?"

He chuckled and leaned his forehead on hers and the golden eyes looked gently at the scarlet ones.

"I promise."

"Okay."

"So, will you wear it on Sunday? Please."

She agreed, moving her head positively.

"Thank you, Sakuno."

"Is there anything I can give you?" she looked at him. "I want to spoil you too."

Echizen's face was completely flushed with her words and expression and he averted his face.

"Do not say such a thing."

It was the first time she saw her boyfriend embarrassed.

"What's wrong? Is there something you want?"

"To kiss." He whispered, unable to face her.

"Echizen-kun, I can't hear you."

"I wish we could kiss more." he finally confessed and waited for her to be mad at him, but it didn't happen.

"You can kiss me." She was still blushing, but the way she said it and the look on her eyes were very serious. "It's all right."

"I don't want you to do it because you feel on debt with me or anything like that."

She didn't use words. The girl cupped his face and looked deep inside the golden eyes before her lips were touching his. It took a moment for Ryoma to believe it was actually happening and had the courage to kiss her too.

It was a deep, serious, opened-mouth kiss.

" _It's different_." Sakuno thought, her heart beating on her ears. " _He's different._ "

Ryoma's hands moved, instinctively and the boy hugged her. He wanted to bring her closer, to feel her more. She smelled so good!

"Echizen… Echizen-kun…" she tried to speak to him but he continued to kiss her hard. Her hand was on his face, pushing him away. "Stop, Ryoma!"

He finally snapped out of the drunkenness of a teenage boy kissing the beautiful girl he liked.

"Sakuno, I'm sorry, I…" he was afraid she was angry.

"I can't do it for too long, I need to breathe!" her entire face was deep flushed, but she didn't seem upset at all. Soon, he realized what had just happened and the golden eyes were wide in absolute surprise.

"You... called me by my name."

"You weren't listen to me!"

"Do it again." He grabbed her hand. "Please."

She wasn't able to look at him anymore.

"Ry…Ryoma."

Her boyfriend hugged her tightly, a big smile on his face.

"Thank you, Sakuno." His voice was so sweet. "This made me really happy."

"You're so silly, Ryoma." He chuckled with her words and kissed her cheek gently.

His girlfriend left soon after, in a hurry, too embarrassed to say goodbye properly, holding the box of her yukata tightly. She even forgot to take some of the cake to Shinji but he would drop it on her home on the next day.

He remembered the way his chest warmed up with her finally saying his name and how she never rejected his kisses even being terribly shy. Ryoma was sure his girlfriend was the cutest and he could barely wait for their date at the festival.


	28. Chapter 28

"Sakuno-chan, you are so beautiful!" Ann said, after helping her friend with the yukata. Sakuno was in front of the mirror, feeling extremely embarrassed. Her hair was tight on a thick bun and her bangs were on her forehead. There was a discreet pink lip gloss on her mouth. "Ryoma-kun has really good taste!"

"You're very beautiful too, Ann-chan." Tachibana was wearing a purple yukata with pink petals on its fabric.

They left the room and went to the living room. Shinji came running. He was wearing a dark blue yukata with small golden stars on it.

"Nee-chan, look, Momo-chan helped me with my yukata!" he was so happy.

"Ah, you're so cute!" she hugged her brother tightly.

"Let's go, Nee-chan!" he was so excited. "Otherwise we are going to be late!"

Ryoma and Takeshi were waiting for them on the outside porch. The boy turned around and forgot how to breathe for a moment when Sakuno appeared in front of him.

"Stop ogling your girlfriend, Ryoma." Takeshi whispered to him and the boy was extremely embarrassed.

"I'm not!"

"What's ogling, Momo-chan?" the young man laughed with Shinji's question.

"You'll understand when you get older." He messed his spike hair a little before offering his arm to his girlfriend in a very gallant way, making her giggle. "Let's go my fair lady?"

He offered his hand to Shinji and they left Sakuno and Ryoma alone for a moment.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she was blushing. "Am I weird?"

"Not at all. You look amazing, Sakuno."

"Thank…thank you." She averted her eyes.

"Can we go?" he asked, gently and she got close to him. She was too embarrassed to look at him; her heart was beating so fast!

"Are you cold?" Ryoma asked when they were already on the streets. It was the end of the afternoon and everything was colored in orange and yellow.

"Not at all. It is not so cold today."

"You're right." He looked up to the naked trees. "It is a good thing, so we can enjoy the festival properly." He looked ahead and Shinji was smiling happily while talking to Ann and Momoshiro. "Shinji is so excited. It's good to see him so well after everything that happened on school."

"It sure is." She finally raised her head and smiled, looking at her brother.

"Sakuno, can I hold your hand?" the teen asked, a little hesitant. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

His girlfriend's soft fingers touched his in a slow and shy movement and Echizen smiled. Sakuno was still blushing but the grip on his hand showed him she was okay with touching in public.

They walked for a little while to arrive at the festival. It was happening in a big square near Momoshiro's home. Shinji was so overwhelmed with the colorful decorations and the different stalls of games and food that he didn't know where to start.

The couples accompany the boy when he played the games and wondered around the festival.

It was already night when they finally stopped to have dinner. They got big bowls of oden with different ingredients and it was a great way to warm up. Ryoma was relieved that Sakuno was behaving normally again. He stopped for a moment and looked at his girlfriend while she talked to their friends and her little brother. He knew the yukata would be good on her, but he could never imagine she would look so stunning. His eyes were drawn to her glistering lips and he wondered how would feel like to kiss her with that lip gloss.

Takeshi and Ann finished eating first so they left to take a walk around the place. Ryoma and Sakuno were still eating with Shinji. The girl was finishing to chew some of the udon noodles when her brother was restlessness.

"Shinji, what's wrong?"

"I…" he whispered. "I need to go to the bathroom, Nee-chan"

"Ah, the bathrooms are all the way down there." she stood up nd smiled at him. "Let's go, I…"

"I can take him, Sakuno. Finish your food." Ryoma looked at Shinji. "Is that okay?"

He moved his head positively.

"Thank you, Ryoma. I will wait for you guys here. Shinji, remember to wash your hands."

"Okay, Nee-chan!" he jumped from the bench and held Ryoma's hand.

The girl sat down and again and smiled happily to herself. It was a such a wonderful time. And she was glad Shinji was enjoying himself so much. She looked up to the sky and it was already changing colors. The girl looked around and wondered where Ann and Momoshiro were. They were so comfortable around each other. She blushed a little, imagining if Ryoma and her would be so lovey-dovey like that. Sakuno took a deep breath. She knew it was her shyness fault that things between them were not progressing so much. She remembered the deep kiss they shared before and her face was burning. She wished she could tell Ryoma she liked to be kissed like that and wanted to do it more, but she would probably die of embarrassment. Why was dating so difficult?!

"Ryuzaki-san?"

Sakuno turned around and Tomoka was by her side with a smile on her face.

"Osakada-san?"

"I thought I saw you earlier. Can I sit with you?"

"Ah…" she looked around and there was no sign of Ryoma. "Sure."

"It is a nice festival, right?" she crossed her hands and supported her chin on them, looking at the girl. "Have you ever come before?"

"Not at all, it's my first time. But, I'm really enjoying it."

"You're dating Ryoma, right?" she asked gently and Sakuno was surprised.

"I… I am."

"Is he treating you well?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry… I'm just, worried about you. You know, Ryoma can be really hard to deal with. We dated for almost a year and it was really difficult on me. At first he was a really nice boyfriend, but I think he gets bored with people. He never allowed me to get closer to him. He stopped hanging out with me and we spent weeks without seeing each other aside from school. And, even there, he was very cold towards me."

"That's the reason you cheated on him?" Sakuno was very uncomfortable.

"Yes." She responded sincerely. "I was so frustrated and sad, I acted stupidly. I really regret on doing it. I wanted to apologize but he never allowed me to."

"Do you still like him?"

"Not at all. Although I acted wrong, now I realized that dating him was not good for me. I was always stressing and doubting myself." She lowered her head. "I was worried he would so some other girl to feel the same. It's a horrible feeling."

"Thank you for worrying about me, but we're getting along just fine." Sakuno answered seriously.

"Okay, then." She smiled and stood up. "Thank you for your time. Enjoy yourself."

Sakuno's chest hurt when the girl left. What was that supposed to mean?! Was Ryoma going to lose interest on her? Were they going to break up too?

"Nee-chan!" Shinji waved at her. He was returning with Ryoma, Momoshiro and Ann. "We found Momo-chan and Ann-chan on the way!"

"That's good." She forced a smile.

There was a sudden coldish breeze and Shinji sneezed.

"It's getting colder." Ann said. "Since there are no fireworks here, why don't we go home?

"Good idea, Ann-chan." Sakuno said and stood up. Ryoma was a little disappointed; they had no time for themselves. "Shinji, are you tired? Do you want me to carry you?"

"I'm fine, Nee-chan." He looked at Ryoma. "Thank you for coming with us, Ryoma-nii."

"You're welcome." He said, gently. "Let's have hot chocolate when we arrive home."

"Yes!" he grinned, happily.

Momoshiro and Ann said goodbye to them on the young man's place. They continued to walk towards the temple. Shinji was chatting about how great the festival was, but even though Sakuno was smiling and responding to her brother, Ryoma knew something was off.

When they arrived, she prepared hot chocolate for them and they continued to talk until Shinji was sleepy.

When Sakuno returned from her brother's room after wishing good night, Ryoma was at the sink, after washing the cups they used.

"You didn't have to do that." She said, coming next to him.

"It's all right." He said, already drying his hands.

"Thank you so much for everything today, Ryoma. Shinji was really happy."

"Were you happy too?" he asked, caressing her hair.

"Yes." She responded quietly.

"Good." He showed her a small smile. "Well, it's late and we have class tomorrow, so…"

Ryoma was surprised when his girlfriend hugged him suddenly, making him stand on his place.

"Sa… Sakuno?"

Her forehead touched his chest and he felt the grip of her hands on his back.

"Ryoma, don't leave now, please. Let's go to my room." Her voice was almost a whisper and his heart raced inside his chest.


	29. Chapter 29

Ryoma could feel his blood rushing inside his body. He was sitting on Sakuno's bedroom and he felt so nervous! His girlfriend had asked him to wait for a moment, while she took a shower and changed clothes.

It was the first time he paied attention to the place. The few objects were tightly organized and her futon was properly rolled and put on the corner of the room. He remembered the night he took care of her when she was sick, the moment he realized his feelings for her.

Ryoma smiled to himself, remembering the warmth of her hand when he first touched him, appreciating his care and concern.

The door opened and closed and Sakuno was in front of him. She was wearing a light green t-shirt and black sweater pants. The red bangs were in front of her face and he couldn't see her eyes. Her hair was completely loose and when she sat in front of him, he noticed the sweet smell.

"Sakuno, what…" before he could complete his question, she touched his hands.

"I want to kiss." Her voice was almost a whisper and it surprised him.

"Hey, are you okay? Did something happen…." His words were stopped when the girl leaned forward and her lips were on his.

At first, Ryoma was very happy his girlfriend was taking the initiative. But, then, he noticed something was wrong. The way she kissed him was forceful. He tried to stop her but the girl glued her body on his, wanting to make him still.

Echizen gently pushed her away from her shoulders and looked at her seriously.

"What are you doing, Sakuno?"

"What's wrong?" she finally looked straight at him and the scarlet eyes were hurt. "Don't you like when I kiss you?"

"Of course I do, but not like this. You're pushing yourself."

"I'm not!"

He touched her face gently and showed her a small smile.

"Sakuno, you're trembling."

She averted her face, feeling extremely embarrassed.

"Tell me what happened. Please."

"I don't want you to think I'm boring." Her voice was so sad.

"What do you mean? I don't think that."

"But you will!" she looked at him. "And then you will break up with me."

"Hey, what are you talking about? You're not making any sense."

"Osakada-san talked to me about you."

"Tomoka talked to you? When? Why?"

"Today, at the festival. She came when you were out with Shinji. She said she was worried about me."

"What did she say?"

"That you gets bored with people and then pushes them away. She told me how much she was with the way you treated her, so…"

"You believed her?"

"I don't know in what to believe!" her eyes were glistering with tears. "I don't know anything about dating, about being someone's girlfriend. The only thing I know it's that I'm in love with you and I don't want you to leave me!"

"Sakuno…" he was surprised by her words.

"People are always leaving me. My father, my mother. I don't want you to leave me as well." She lowered her head and he noticed the big tears falling on her trembling hands.

His chest hurt. He felt completely stupid and not realizing her fears earlier. His girlfriend was always so strong; he had no idea of how much the situations with her parents had affected her so much.

Ryoma hugged her gently and his hand touched her hair, surprising her.

"Thank you for your feelings, Sakuno." His voice was so sweet. "I didn't know you were worrying about such a thing. I'm so sorry I didn't notice."

She sobbed and his hug was tighter.

"You're not boring at all. Yes, we are taking things slow, but it doesn't mean it's wrong. We have our own pace, you have your own pace and I'm really glad you are always thinking about me."

He looked at her and his thumb dried her tears.

"Are you really okay with me?"

"Yes." The boy placed a small kiss on her cheek. "I'm in love with you too."

She blushed and leaned her forehead on his chest.

"I'm sorry I kissed you like that."

"It's okay. In another situation, I'd like it very much. I was really happy when you said you wanted to do it." The boy looked at the clock on the wall and took a deep breath. "It's late already. I need to go home."

The girl hugged him tightly and her hands grabbed the back of his t-shirt.

"Sakuno?"

"Would you stay a little bit more? Until I fall asleep at least." She looked at him seriously, although her cheeks were still flushed. "I want to spend more time with you, since we couldn't be alone at the festival. I was so nervous after talking to Osakada-san that I just wanted to go home. I'm sorry."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." There was no hesitance on her expression and Ryoma caressed her face again, before placing a small kiss on her mouth.

##########

There was only one small lamp lit on Sakuno's room at that moment, so there was a pleasant semi-darkness. They were under the heavy covers on her bed. Her forehead was on his chest and she could hear his heartbeats.

"You smell good." He said, quietly, his fingers caressing her hair. "It's sweet."

"The shampoo I use is strawberry scented."

"It suits you." She smiled to herself.

"Ryoma?"

"Can I ask you something? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"What is it?"

"Why things went wrong between you and Osakada-san?"

"Well…." He turned around and laid on his back, looking at the ceiling. The girl continued to lay by his side. "It was actually my fault. I started to date her without liking her for real. She confessed to me and I was so surprised I just accepted. I thought that, in time, I could have feelings for real. But, it never happened." His voice was sad.

"You never talked to her about how you felt?"

"No. I know I acted terribly towards her, but before I could talk to her properly and apologize, she cheated on me and I got angry."

"I see."

"And, there was also the matter of sex. It was really troublesome too."

Ryoma was still looking up so he didn't notice how the scarlet eyes got wide in complete shock.

Her boyfriend yawned and rubbed his hair, before looking at her with a small smile.

"Sakuno, I really have to go now. Are you sleepy too?"

"Ye…yes. Thank you for staying."

"My pleasure." He kissed her forehead. "Good night."

"Good night, Ryoma. Sleep well."

"See you tomorrow." He said, before closing the door after him when he left the room.

Sakuno didn't know how she was able to behave normally around him. She could hear her heart beating like crazy on her chest. Sex?! How could he talk about it in such a calm manner?!


	30. Chapter 30

Sakuno smiled when she saw Ann coming towards her. The older girl had a gentle smile on her face. She got close and sat across from her. They were in a coffee shop near Seigaku. Sakuno had chosen the last table, far away on the back.

"Hello, Ann-chan. Thank you for coming."

"Sure. You seemed worried on the message. Is everything all right?"

"I'm sorry for bothering you with this subject, but, I have no other friend. Specially one that is dating in a good relationship as well."

"Did something happen between you and Echizen-kun?"

"His girlfriend approached me when I was alone at the festival."

"Really?! What did she tell you?"

"She asked if I was all right. She told me that Ryoma was difficult to deal with and how badly he made her feel."she lowered her head. "I was really worried."

"I can imagine. I would hate it if it happened to me. Did you talk to Echizen-kun about it?"

"I was so nervous I cried in front of him." She looked at Ann again. "I was afraid he was actually thinking I am boring and would break up with me."

"He would never do that. He really treasures you. Takeshi says he never saw Echizen-kun caring about someone so much."

"Really?" she was surprised.

"Yes!" Ann smiled at her. "Did he make you feel at ease?"

She moved her head positively and there was a small smile on her face.

"That's good."

"He told me about his relationship and what had gone wrong and then… he… also mentioned sex." The girl said the last part almost in a whisper and her face got extremely flushed.

"Oh."

"Ryoma is my first boyfriend. I'm always so nervous and embarrassed when he is around. When he told me about such a thing, I thought my heart had dropped from my chest."

"Well, they dated for some time; I think it was bound to happen."

"But, what if he is expecting this from me as well?" she was very nervous. "What should I do?!"

"Don't you want to do it with him?"

She blushed entirely and averted her face.

"I don't know. Up to that moment I never even considered such a thing and…"

Ann touched her hand and the girl looked at her surprised. There was a gentle look on the blue eyes.

"Sakuno-chan you should not worry about it. If you ever feel like it, you will know. It will come to you. I think it's a normal thing to have such feelings if you are in love with someone. Spend more time together, be more intimate and share all of you."

Sakuno thought she had an incredibly mature expression on saying those words.

"Can I ask you something, Ann-chan?"

"Sure."

"Did you and Momoshiro-san already…?"

There was a very subtle blush on her face but she only smile and moved her head positively.

"Really?!" Sakuno whispered. "How was it?!"

"It was good." She showed a shy smile. "I was the one who took the first step. Takeshi was very nervous, I thought he would faint. He worried a lot, he didn't want me to feel forced or something. We talked and I put him at ease. He was very gentle towards me and there was no rush." The blue eyes were filled with love while she talked about her boyfriend. "After dating for a while I knew I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life and he was the one I wanted to share that with. I think it was just… the natural evolution for us."

"Ann-chan… you're such an adult."

"Not at all!" she giggled.

#############

Ryoma was finishing to put on some clothes after taking a shower when his cellphone rang. He was drying his hair with a towel when he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Ryoma, hi!" his mother sounded very happy." How are you? Is everything all right?"

"Hey, Kaa-san. Everything is fine. How's Tou-san?"

"He's good. He went downstairs to bring some pizza. We're at Kyoto right now."

"I see."

"How's Ryuzaki-san and Shinji? Are they all right?"

"They're well."

"Ryoma, I'm actually calling to give you some news. About the date we're coming back."

"Let me guess." He sat on his bed. "You're not able to come back on my birthday."

"I'm so sorry. But, we are able to come back on the 26th." There was worry on her voice. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine. When I tell Momoshiro he is probably going to feel sorry for me and arrange some cake. And it's Shinji's birthday as well, so we were already planning something."

"Oh, really? That's a great coincidence! I will send you some extra money so you can buy him a gift, okay? And for Ryuzaki-san too, for Christmas."

"Thanks, Kaa-san." There was a small smile on his face.

"I miss you, Ryoma. Your father too."

"I miss you guys as well. Be safe. Tell Tou-san I said hello."

"Good night, son."

"Good night."

Ryoma looked at his cellphone and wondered if he should text his girlfriend.

"Sakuno will probably worry if I tell her." He took a deep breath. "I will wait for a while. She is already worrying about moving out."


	31. Chapter 31

"Aaaah!" Sakuno complained before laying on the floor. It was Friday night and Ryoma was there with her after having dinner together. Shinji was already sleeping. He was helping her to trough some ads for apartment rents. She avoided talking to her brother about it, so he wouldn't create false hopes. There was a lot to consider before she could find the right place. "Why is so difficult to find a good apartment?!"

"Well, the range of price is difficult for what you want." He said, gently.

"But I need a two-bedroom place." She sat down and looked at him worried. "Now it's the first time that Shinji has a room to himself. I don't want to take it from him." The girl took a deep breath. "If I can't find one, I will rent a one-bedroom apartment and Shinji can have it. I can sleep on the living room if it's necessary."

"Don't rush into this kind of thought. Let's keep looking at the weekly ads. On year's end there are probably better places and prices, since it's a season people usually moves a lot."

"Really?"

"Yes." He showed her a small smile.

"Even if I don't get one on the neighborhood of my first choice, I can always check one near a train station to Toudai."

"Toudai?!" he was surprised. "You're aiming for Tokyo University?!"

"Didn't I tell you?" she was a little concerned. "Do you think I'm aiming too high?"

"Not at all. I have no doubts you're going to be approved there."

"Thank you." She smiled.

"Hey, what else do you wish for your place? Can you tell me?"

She averted her face, feeling shy.

"Ah, well..."

"Please."

"I want a plaque."

"A plaque?"

"With our names outside. I want to return to a place with Ryuzaki by the door. That's the absolute proof you have a home, right?"

He was a little surprise on knowing his girlfriend wished for something so simple, but, now she explained it, it had such deep and important meaning. Echizen hugged her tightly.

"Ryoma? What's it?"

He just tightened the embrace.

She looked at him and smiled.

"Do you feel sad when I talk about moving out? I'm sorry."

He moved his head negatively.

"Every time you talk about your plans, I feel like you are so much mature than I. I never had to worry about so many things you already know how to handle so properly. Sometimes I just feel like a silly kid that doesn't know anything about life."

She noticed some sadness on the golden eyes and she kissed him. Her arms were around his shoulders and she deepened the kiss. When they mouths separated, she looked at him with her cheeks a little flushed.

"Don't worry about such a thing. I told you before; you have a life everyone at our age should have. I have a paper saying I'm an adult, but there are a lot of things I still don't know as well. If I could change things, I wish my parents never split and Shinji and I could have an easy going life." She smiled kindly. "I'm very lucky to have you. I feel normal by your side, even with so many responsibilities on my shoulders." She touched his face and her fingers brushed on his cheek slowly and softly. "The time I spend with you is very precious to me."

His heart was warmed by her sweet words and the way the scarlet eyes were on him. The boy kissed his girlfriend deeply. There were things he could only convey like that. He was glad Sakuno was responding to his deep kisses and even though she was still blushing, she didn't get tense like before.

It had suddenly started to rain and the raindrops tapped on the windows around them, but they didn't mind about it. Sakuno was melting against those slow and deep kisses. How long were they kissing anyway? It seemed like forever.

She was so nervous on the first couple of days after he talked to Ann-chan. Sakuno was avoiding any situations where she and Ryoma were alone. But, she came to the conclusion she was just being silly. Her boyfriend was a kind, gentle and understanding young man. He would never force her to do anything that would make her uncomfortable. Ryoma said they would have their own time and… her blood froze completely.

Her kind, gentle and understanding boyfriend's hand was under her t-shirt and touching her abdomen. Sakuno broke the kiss abruptly and slid a few meters away from him, blushing entirely.

Echizen finally realized what he had done. He was still a hot blooded teen kissing his girlfriend, they were alone together and it was the first time she was so willing. He had a sudden desire of wanting to touch her more. But Sakuno seemed like she was about to faint and he wanted to apologize.

"Sakuno, I…"

"Look at the time it's so late already!" she said, in hurried words and stood up with a nervous smile. "I'd better go to sleep; I have a lot of chores to do tomorrow morning. Thank you so much for the help today, Ryoma, please, lock the door on your way out, goodbye!" she rushed inside her room and closed the door quickly.

Her boyfriend continued there, feeling so guilty and not able to formulate proper sentences on his brain. Ryoma stood up and looked at her bedroom's door before taking a deep breath.

"Ryoma, you idiot." He said to himself before leaving the place.


	32. Chapter 32

"Can I talk to you?" Ryoma said, politely and seriously. Tomoka looked at him surprised. She was having lunch sitting by herself on the last part of the bleachers inside the gymnasium.

She lowered her head and there was a small sad smile on her face.

"Are you going to yell at me because I talked to your girlfriend?"

"Not at all." His response made her look at him. He looked very calm. "Can I sit with you?"

"Sure." She waited until he saw down to talk again. "Did you guys have a fight because of me? Did she got jealous?"

"No, Sakuno isn't the jealous type."

"So, why are you here talking to me?"

"I came to apologize, Tomoka." He looked straight at her. "For before, for everything. Specially the way I treated you after we broke up."

"What?" she was very surprised.

"I was not a good boyfriend to you. I should have talked to you. Sakuno told me how you felt and I'm really sorry. I had no intentions of hurting you so much." He lowered his head in front of her and the girl's heart skipped a beat. "I'm really sorry, Tomoka. I hope you can forgive me."

"Why are you apologizing to me now?" she asked, her head down again. "Did your girlfriend tell you to do it?"

"I'm doing it because I should have done it a long time ago. Things went wrong between us because of me. I'm taking responsibility."

Tomoka chuckled but when she raised her head and looked at him, her eyes were glistering with tears.

"I really liked you, Ryoma."

"I know. I'm thankful for that. You were a good girlfriend."

"Thank you." She put the lid of her obento on and stood up from her seat. "I need to do some things before break finishes. Thank you for talking to me."

"Hm." He answered before she walked away and didn't realize when a small tear ran down her face even though she had a small smile on. A great weight was taken off her chest and, after so much time, she felt extremely relieved with such closure.

##########

Shinji stopped by Sakuno's bedroom door and looked at his sister. She was studying. She had a deep frown on her face and her thoughts seemed to be far away, totally concentrated on her task.

During all the weekend, she only exchanged a few messages with Ryoma and had immerged herself on house chores and taking care of the temple on those days. When school time arrived, she was doing a tremendous effort to talk normally to her boyfriend, but, at home, she was strangely silent and Shinji knew something was wrong.

"Nee-chan?" He called her from the door, but she didn't listen to him. "Nee-chan?" He called again, this time, coming closer to her.

"Oh, yes, Shinji?" she finally looked at him and smiled. "Is everything all right?"

"It's almost dinner time. Are you going to cook something?"

"Ah!" she jumped from her seat. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see the time passing! I will prepare something right away, okay? Don't worry!"

She rushed to the kitchen and the little boy followed her.

"There is some rice on the fridge from lunch and I will put some vegetables and fish together, is that okay?"

"Do you need help, Nee-chan?"

"Not at all." She smiled, nervously. "Just, sit down; food will be done in a moment."

"Okay." He responded quietly, sitting by the table.

He watched while she started to prepare food. She was moving in a hurry and Shinji was worried.

"Nee-chan…" he was about to offer her some help again, when the girl held the frying pan without protection and burned her hand.

"Danm it!"

"Nee-chan!" Shinji ran to her side and she was holding her hand with a painful look on her face. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine." She forced a smile. "It was nothing, I just…"

"Sakuno? Shinji?" Ryoma's voice reached them from the door and Shinji answered.

"We're on the kitchen Ryoma-nii!"

When the boy arrived Sakuno was with her hand under the running water from the faucet.

"Hey, what happened?"

"Nee-chan got burned."

"Are you okay?" he rushed to her side and looked at her hand. It was really red already.

"I'm fine." She averted her face. "I need to finish dinner, so…"

"You're not doing anything." The teen went to the fridge and picked up an ice pack, putting it inside a thin towel and put it on her hand. "Sit down with this for a while. I will finish food."

"You don't have to worry!"

"Don't be stubborn." He said, kindly. "Shinji, can you help me out?"

"Yes!" he responded with great determination.

Sakuno took a deep breath before obeying. She sat down and watched the two of them finishing preparing the food. Without noticing there was a small smile on her face. Her boyfriend and her brother got along so well.

She looked at her hand and called herself idiot. She spent all day worrying about what happened with Ryoma, got late to make her brother food and even hurt herself.

On the night before, after Shinji went to bed, she sat down on her computer and nervously started to search about sex. It seemed stupid for a teenager not know about those things at that day and age, but she was not a regular teenager, she didn't have a regular upbringing with tv series available where those kinds of topics were discussed. She knew about intercourse and how things work, she knew how babies were made but she also knew sex was not only about that.

But, as soon as she typed the word on the search website, all those extremely graphic images popped right upon her eyes and she slammed the notebook close, feeling all her blood rushing to her face. Doing such things with Ryoma?! It was simple impossible!

##########

Sakuno was a little painful when her boyfriend applied some medicine cream on her hand. Shinji was already sleeping. They already had dinner and Shinji helped Ryoma with the dishes as well. The teens were able to put him at ease over his sister's injury. They were now sitting on her room.

"There we go." He bandaged her hand and looked at her gently after he finished. "Use this for a couple of days."

"Thank you so much." She said, quietly. "And thank you for the help with the food too."

"Don't mention."

"Why did you come here? Did something happen?" he usually let her know in advance when he was going to visit them.

"I was worried about what happened and I wanted to talk about it, since you're so awkward around me." the boy said, gently.

"I'm sorry." She lowered her face.

"Don't apologize. I was the one who scared you. I didn't mean to touch you like that without your permission. I'm really sorry, Sakuno."

"I'm not scared of you." She looked straight at him. "I just… didn't know how to act. It caught me off guard." She blushed deeply.

"I missed talking to you lately." He whispered, in a sweet voice. "But, I didn't say anything because I imagined you were mad at me. I wanted to give you space."

"I was not mad." She finally showed him a small smile. "I missed you too."

"So, that means you don't hate it when I touch you?"

She averted her face eyes and could feel her cheeks burning. Her hands were pressed together and she took a deep breath before responding.

"I… don't."

"Really?"

Ryuzaki moved her head positively.

"I'm glad." He touched her hands. "Because… with time, I want to touch you more. As long as you let me and only if you are comfortable to it. It really makes me worry when you distance yourself from me. So, I will be more careful with my hands for now. Is that okay?"

She couldn't look at him, her heart was about to jump from her chest.

"Yes." She said, almost in a whisper and the boy hugged her tightly. He felt so relieved.

"Thank you, Sakuno."

His girlfriend rested her cheek on his chest. He was always so warm. She hugged him back, able to hear his heartbeats and they soothe her nervousness about what happened and her worries about sex entirely.

"I talked to Tomoka today."

"Eh?" she looked at him surprised. "What happened? Did you guys have another fight?!"

"I went to apologize. It was about time. I want to be a good boyfriend to you. This also means I need to acknowledge my mistakes. I don't want you to worry or crying again for things that happened before."

Her chest felt tight with the way the golden eyes looked at her and the gentleness of his voice.

Sakuno's fingertips touched his cheek, surprising the boy a little. She placed a soft kiss on his mouth.

"Thank you for always thinking about me, Ryoma."

He showed her a small smile.

"There is also something I need to tell you. My mom called and she said she won't be able to make it to my birthday."

"What?" she was worried. "I'm so sorry."

"That's okay. I'm happy to spend the day with you and Shinji. Let's plan something for him, right? He told me he wanted a birthday cake. I was thinking to call Momo and Takahashi-san so we can have a party here for him."

"I was thinking the same!" she smiled. "I wanted to try baking that cake you bought us the other day."

"I'm sure it will be great." There was a hint of sadness on the golden eyes. "It will be the last thing we will do together before you guys leave."

"Let's not talk about such things now."

"Okay. You know, we will be dating for three months soon."

"Yes." She smiled to herself. "But I feel like I've been in love with you for a long time already." Her voice was filled with tenderness." Maybe I was already, long ago, before I even realized it."

His heart was terribly clenched inside his chest and he tighened his hug, leaning his forehead on the curve of her shoulder. She was so sweet, it was painful.

"Why do you have to be so cute, Sakuno?!" he complained, looking up.

She looked at him a little surprised and then giggled.

"You're so silly, Ryoma."


	33. Chapter 33

Sakuno looked around Jun's office. She was a little nervous with the sudden call. It was Monday afternoon and the lawyer sent her a message to meet her after school. She asked Ryoma to pick up Shinji at school and went straight there.

Her eyes stopped on a picture on the bookshelf. It was the lawyer and her father on their wedding day. Jun was very beautiful and Naoki seemed very happy. Sakuno didn't remember the last time she saw him smiling like that. After Shinji was born, their father was always missing or arguing with her mother around the house. She would hide on her room, holding her little brother and comforting him, until he stopped crying over their shouting.

Those were now only faraway memories; she told herself, taking a deep breath and denying the sadness from those times to reach her again. Shinji and her had survived so many bad and difficult times. Only good things were waiting for them now, she would make sure of it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Jun opened the door and entered her office, looking at her with a gentle smile.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, Sakuno-san."

"No problem at all, Adachi-san." She responded politely. "Is everything all right with my documentation to adopt Shinji?" Jun was also taking care of that matter. "Did something happen?"

"Don't worry. Things are going smoothly. Probably by the end of the month you will sign the official papers. They just have to check some things out."

"I'm glad then. So, why did you call me today?"

"I did something on my own, but I'm sure it will be highly beneficial to you and Shinji." Her eyes were gentle.

"What do you mean?"

Jun put an envelope over the desk, in front of her.

"Open up."

The girl looked at her confused before obeying. When she started to read it, the scarlet eyes were wide in absolute shock.

"What is this?!" there was a check inside, signed by her father. It was a big amount of money.

"Naoki and I had a little… conversation about your situation." Her husband was still sleeping on the coach and she was barely speaking to him.

"I told you I didn't want him to know about anything!" she was very upset. "What if he comes after Shinji again?!"

"Calm down, Sakuno-san, it's okay." She picked up a document from inside her drawer and showed it to her, pointing at a specific paragraph. "See? He signed. He will never come near you two. I already filed this document. Be at ease."

"I don't want anything from him." There was a deep frown on her face. "I don't want to own him any favors."

"It's not such a thing. When a father leaves home, he has a responsibility with his children. I imagined that, at the time, your mother didn't have the information, but he is obligated to support you and Shinji." She was so kind. "I merely made the math over the years he left you two and added some more numbers until Shinji graduates from high school. This money belongs to you and your brother by law."

"Adachi-san…"

"There's also something else." She showed her another envelope and the girl opened quickly and the scarlet eyes were filled with tears. There was another check with numbers even longer than the one before.

"Why are you giving me such outrageous checks?!"

Jun came close and sat in front of her with a small smile.

"There was only one thing that your father didn't lie about. I wanted a child indeed. We've tried on our first couple of years of marriage, with no success. And then, I finally got pregnant. But, when I was almost 6 months along, I lost the baby." Sakuno noticed the sadness on her face. "It was a real serious situation and I cannot have children anymore."

"I'm so sorry." She said, sincerely.

"Even before all that, I've always asked Naoki about you two, but he always said your mother didn't give him any news." She chuckled to herself. "On the night I lost our child, he was crying so much. Now, when I think about it, I believe it was out of guilt as well."

"Why are you giving me this money? I don't understand."

"It's my way of apologizing to you two. I want you to use this and buy you and Shinji an apartment."

"You don't have to do this, you did nothing wrong!"

"Please, let me help you two." She asked, kindly. "You would be my child's older sister. I know this doesn't erase everything you and your brother went through, but, please, accept it. Soon you will have to worry about your entrance exams and college. Just, let me give you a little peace of mind. Please."

Sakuno lowered her head and her hands were trembling while holding the check.

"I… I wanted this for so long, I worked so hard. A home we could call our own."

"You can take a little easier now. This place will be yours and yours only. Just choose an apartment that better attends your needs and let me know. I will check everything else for you." Jun gently touched one of her hands and smiled at her. "You're a wonderful girl, Sakuno-san. A wonderful big sister as well. Shinji is in excellent hands with you."

Small relieved tears fell from her face while the red bangs were over her eyes.

"Thank you so much." Her voice was almost a whisper.


	34. Chapter 34

"I got a home." Sakuno said, gently, with a small smile on her face. It was lunch time and she was sitting with Ryoma on some stairs near the school rooftop. It was raining heavily since the night before and they didn't have much time to talk when she arrived home from Jun's office. They had dinner together with Shinji and exchanged a brief kiss before he ran to his home under the pouring and cold rain.

"Hm?" he stopped eating his sandwich and looked at his girlfriend. "Did you find a good rent that you like?"

She moved her head negatively.

"I got a home. Well, actually an apartment."

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday Adachi-san gave me two checks. One was from my father. By law, he was obligated to support Shinji and me financially even if he was no longer married. And the other one, it was for an apartment."

"Really?!"

"Yes. She said she wanted to help Shinji and I."

"That's amazing, Sakuno!" He hugged her tightly. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you." She took a deep breath. "I'm so relieved I finally solve this."

"I bet you are." He held her hand. "Did you tell Shinji about it?"

"Not yet. I want to surprise him when the place is bought."

His forehead touched hers and showed her a small smile.

"Look at you. An adult with your own place."

"Thank you for all the help you've given me so far. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome." He caressed her face. "I will help you out with the new place as well and moving too. Let's enjoy these last couple of months we still have together as neighbors then."

"Yes!" she smiled, happily.

Suddenly her cellphone started to vibrate on her pocket and she picked it up.

"I'm sorry. It's a message."

"No problem." She sat by his side before starting to reading it. "Is it something wrong?"

"Not at all." She smiled. "It's Ito-san my old boss from the maid café. She needs to travel for a while and she is asking me if I could work again, on weekends, to help her nephew out with the place. It will be only for a month."

"Oh, really? I didn't know you still keep in touch."

"She is very nice. She didn't want me to leave, since I helped out with some other things aside from serving clients as well."

"I see. But, you're not financially tight anymore, right? There's no need for you to do it."

"Money I made myself is always better. Moving and buying furniture is really expensive and I need to think about Shinji's college as well. I should start saving for that and…"

Ryoma chuckled.

"You're always worrying ahead."

She blushed a little and lowered her face.

"I'm sorry for being weird."

He hugged her again and kissed her cheek.

"Not weird at all. I like this about you."

She smiled, leaning her body on his.

"Thank you."

##########

"Why do I have to spend Friday night with you instead of my cute girlfriend?!" Takeshi complained, before pausing the game. Ryoma was at his place and they were playing videogames together.

Echizen made a face and looked at him displeased.

"You were the one who called me here, saying you were lonely." He stood up. "I'd rather be with Sakuno too, so…" he started to walk away when Momoshiro thrown himself on his leg, hugging it tight.

"Please, don't go, Ryoma!"

His friend looked at him displeased, but returned to his sit on the floor and to his game.

"I just… miss her so much."

"Weren't you the one who said she could take as much time as she wanted to study for her entrance exams so you could go to the same college? Where's that mature air now?"

"It's fake! Totally fake, I just do it to impress her!" he whined.

"She must really like you to do work so hard." His eyes were on the television.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the whole world!" he grinned happily.

"Hey, can I ask you a question? It's okay if you don't want to answer."

"What is it?" he looked at him.

"Did you ever have sex?"

"Eh?!" Momoshiro blushed entirely and sat away from him. "Why are you asking me such a thing?!"

"Because I don't have anyone else to ask." He said like it was obvious with a plain face.

"Ah, well…" he was very nervous.

"You did, right?"

"It's the first time you're talking about such a thing. Did something happen between you and Ryuzaki-san?!"

"Nothing of the sort." He paused the game and leaned on his bed. "I don't really know how to act about this thing with her." He took a deep breath. "We were together and I accidently touch her belly and she acted like I was radioactive. She literally slid away from me."

"That's seems bad. Did you guys talk about it?"

"Yes. But, it's not like she hates when I do it. She's just too shy. I promised her that I would keep my hands to myself, but it's so hard." He lowered his head.

"Well, it's expected. You're her first boyfriend, right? And her life is far from being regular. She must have so many other things to worry about rather than boys."

"I don't know what to do." He looked at Momoshiro and he noticed the teen was really lost. "I've never felt like this before. Even with Tomoka. She was the one who initiated things, I just went along."

"Maybe because this time you're with a girl that you like for real." Takeshi smiled kindly at him.

"But I want to treasure her. I don't want her to think I'm some pervert."

"Ryoma, having those feelings towards the girl you like is normal. Do not beat yourself up over this. When relationships progress, being intimate is an expected turn of events." He messed his hair a little. "Just be responsible about it, okay? You're too young to be a dad."

"What are you talking about?!" Echizen blushed entirely and averted his face. "Do you think I am stupid?" he whispered. "If it ever happens of course I will take good care of her body."

"I'm just messing with you!" he grinned.

Ryoma chuckled at his friend's siliness.

"I really, really like her." The golden eyes were gentle.

"I know you do." Momoshiro smiled gently.

"Sakuno said she was afraid I would think she's boring and break up, but, I'm the one who is afraid. She's amazing and so beautiful, next to her I'm just a stupid kid. So, I always worry that someday soon she will realize it and I'm the one who's left behind." Even though there was a small smile on his face, Takeshi noticed the sadness on his voice.

"I'm sure this won't happen. You guys are great together." He said, kindly touching his shoulder.

########

"Ito-san, good afternoon." Sakuno smiled after entering the maid café. A tall and beautiful young woman ran to her and hugged her tightly. She had dark blue hair and eyes.

The café opened at 4p.m until midnight. Usually college girls would take the last shifts, so Sakuno arrived earlier to talk to the owner and get ready.

"Sakuno-chan, you're really here!"

"It's good to see you again. Thank you for calling me."

"I'm the one who's thankful, you're a life saver!"

"Can I go to the back and get change?"

"Sure! You still have your old locker and your uniform is there as well. It was a good thing I kept it to emergencies after you abandoned me." She whinned.

"I didn't do such a thing!" the girl giggled.

"I will find my stupid nephew while you're there. You're going to help him with the cashier and other stuff. He is probably lost on the stock room."

"Okay." She smiled before going to change.

It took Sakuno a while to change into her maid's outfit. She was still very much embarrassed with the length of the skirt and the clingy fabric.

When she was leaving to meet Ito again, she bumped into a taller person going to the same direction.

"I'm so sorry!" the masculine voice reached her ears and she looked up. The teenager seemed older and he was very handsome, with blue hair reaching his shoulders and light blue eyes. He was wearing a butler's outfit.

"No, I'm the one who has to apologize!"

He blushed completely when the scarlet eyes looked at him and avert his face. He felt his heart jumping inside his chest. A gorgeous girl wearing a maid outfit was so near him!

"Ah, Natsuo! You met Sakuno-chan already, good!" Ito said, on the other side of the hallway. "Sakuno-chan, that's my nephew, Natsuo. He is 19, an art college student and he is a little stupid, but please, help him, okay?"

"Nice…nice to meet you." He said, nervously but Sakuno just smiled gently at him.

"Nice to meet you too, Natsuo-san. I'm Ryuzaki Sakuno. Let's get along, right?"

"Ye..Yes!"

"Natsuo, come here!" his aunt screamed from the kitchen. "I need your help with some boxes!"

"I'm coming!"

While he walked away, he looked at Sakuno one more time with the corner of one of his blue eyes, being sure that he was just victim of love at first sight.


	35. Chapter 35

" _Don't screw up. Don't scare her._ " Those sentences echoed on Ryoma's mind. It was Friday night and he was at Sakuno's room. They had dinner together and she invited him after Shinji went to bed. It was the first time they saw each other properly after two weeks, since his girlfriend had started to work on the maiden café again and, on her free time, she was studying for the tests that would happen soon. They were drinking some tea by the low table on her room and talking. She said something cute, he kissed her and they were kissing for a long time already.

The kisses were calm and gentle, but deep ones. Echizen was happy she was more comfortable with the gesture, but, at the same time, he was using a lot of self restrain to not touch her in any way that would scare her. His hand was holding hers and she smelled so good! He wondered if it was a different soap or shampoo, even though it was sweet, it was not strawberries like before. The boy wanted to hold her close and feel her scent better, but he was afraid that any wrong touches would make her fringe again.

Sakuno's mouth separated from his and there was a very subtle and adorable blush on her cheeks. She caressed his face and smiled.

"I'm sorry I've been so busy lately."

"That's okay." He said, gently. "Don't apologize for doing stuff for yourself."

"Thank you for staying with Shinji while I'm at the part time job."

"I like being with him. Although he always beat me on the games."

She giggled.

"So, how's the café going? Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yes! I'm getting along with Natsuo-san as well." She smiled. "He's very nice!"

"Natsuo-san?"

"Ito-san's nephew. He is a first year student of arts at Toudai, can you believe it?!"

"Ah, I see."

"I was worried if I was bothering him asking so many questions bout the university, but he said he really liked to talk about it. She explained me so many things already and said he could study together with me to the entrance exams! Isn't great?!"

"Hm." She was so excited talking about Natsuo that she didn't realize how umconfortable her boyfriend was.

"I had an idea! Why don't you come to pick me up with Shinji tomorrow? My shift ends at eight. We can have dinner together."

"Sounds good." He answered, with a small smile.

Sakuno leaned forward and kissed him again. Ryoma wished it was one of those deep kisses like before, but it was brief one.

"I'm sorry, Ryoma, but I still want to study more before going to bed today." Her words were very sweet. "But as soon as the part time ends and tests as well, I will make it up to you. I promise."

"I understand." He said, gently and placed a kiss on her cheek before standing up. "Good night, Sakuno. Don't be up until late, rest too, okay?"

"Yes, good night to you too."

#############

Ryoma threw himself on his bed after brushing his teeth and changing clothes. He took a deep breath looking at the ceiling inside the darkness of his room.

He remembered the way his girlfriend smiled while talking about another guy and he felt extremely bothered. How many hours she was spending with that Natsuo person anyway? From the way she said it, they were really close already. A college student from Toudai? He was probably extremely smart, just like Sakuno. Their conversations were probably way more interesting than the ones she would have with him. No matter how much they studied together, he was still way behind from her perfect grades.

"I'm so ordinary next to her." His heart hurt with his own words.

He hugged his pillow and wished he could hug her to push some of those thoughts away. When was the last time he was able to hug her? They were able to exchange intimate kisses now, he said they would have their own time, but the fact a teenage boy couldn't touch his girlfriend the way he wanted made him feel so frustrated sometimes. There was a small smile on his face from the memories of when she asked him to stay and they were on her bed. She was so relaxed around him and the gentleness of her voice and the way the scarlet eyes looked at him made his heart turn around his chest.

He sighed and wondered how long would take for their relationship to take further steps.

###########

"What do you want to eat for dinner today?" Ryoma asked to Shinji when they were near the maid café.

"Udon!" he said, with a big smile and Ryoma touched his red hair.

"Good pick." He opened the door to the little boy and, as soon as they entered, Natsuo came with a gentle smile to welcome them. He was wearing the butler uniform and his hair was tight in a small bum.

"Welcome to Butterfly Café."

"Wow!" Shinji's green eyes were wide in surprise. "He looks like a prince!"

The young man chuckled and before he could say anything, Sakuno appeared next to them. She was still wearing her maid outfit.

"Nee-chan!"

"Ah, you two came earlier." She smiled at them. "Natsuo-san, these are Shinji, my little brother and Echizen Ryoma."

"Nice to meet you!" the little boy maid a polite reverence.

"Nice to meet you too, Shinji-kun." He looked at Ryoma. "Nice to meet you as well."

"Hm." Ryoma was feeling so uncomfortable. Why didn't her introduce him as her boyfriend? "Nice to meet you."

"I still have some minutes to end my shift, could you two sit and wait for me for a while?"

"Hm." He replied quietly, before the young man took them to a table.

After a couple of minutes, Natsuo returned with a small transparent box with three slices of different decorated cakes.

"Shinji-kun, do you like sweets?"

"Yes!"

"So, do you accept these?" he put it on the little boy's hands and his eyes sparkled.

"Can I really?! Thank you so much!" Sakuno got close to them, already on her regular clothes. "Nee-chan, look, Natsuo-san gave me some sweets!"

"Thank you so much." She made a small reverence.

"Don't mention it." He replied gently. "See you next Saturday."

##########

Ryoma lowered his head while poking the cake slice with a fork. They were at Sakuno's home, having the dessert Natsuo had give to Shinji. They had udon in a restaurant near the café and during all the meal time, Shinji and she were talking about Natsuo. The little boy said he wanted to be cool and tall like him someday and his girlfriend talked about how polite, kind and intelligent he was.

Echizen didn't have any opportunity to talk to her properly and now he was extremely bothered to say anything. He had waited for that dinner for the whole week.

Shinji went to bed and Ryoma quietly wished him goodnight. Sakuno returned to sit across from him after taking care of the dishes.

"Is there something wrong with your cake?"

"I think I'm just not really hungry for sweets now." He said quietly.

"Is everything okay?"

"Hm." He smiled sadly to himself. "Everything is fine."

Sakuno got close and hugged him by his shoulders, surprising him a little.

"Thank you for picking me up today." She placed a small kiss on his cheek.

"You're welcome." He hugged her back.

"Hey." She looked at him. "Do you mind picking Shinji up on school and taking him home on Friday?"

"Not at all. Why? Are you staying at school to study?"

"Natsuo-san said he can show me around the Toudai campus!" she replied happily. "Isn't he nice?"

Ryoma lowered his head and his heart raced inside his chest.

"Why are you getting so close of another guy?"

"Ryoma?" she was surprised by his tone of voice. The girl wanted to see his face but his eyes were covered by the black bangs. Sakuno touched his hand but he moved away from her in a sudden move.

"Do you have any idea of how much I waited to have some time with you today? Of talking to you properly after not being able to do it for so long? But, instead of paying attention to me, you only talked about Natsuo-san for the whole evening."

"What are you talking about?" she was so confused with his words.

"I'm okay with you being busy with working or studying, but using your free time to go out with another guy, when you didn't even have time for me lately, how do you think it makes me feel?"

"Ryoma, I'm so sorry, I…" she tried to touch his face, but he stood up. The golden eyes were so hurt.

"I'm going home."

"Ryoma, wait!" the only thing Sakuno could do was watching him close the door.

She felt tears on the scarlet eyes and her heart ached deeply.


	36. Chapter 36

Shinji finished to get dress and looked at his sister. It was a rainy morning and she was by the windows, looking at Ryoma's home. She had her cell phone on her hand and a sad look on her face.

The little boy got close and held her hand.

"Nee-chan, are you okay?"

"Yes." She forced a smile. "I was just worried about the weather."

Shinji looked at the clock on the kitchen's wall. It was almost time for them to go to school.

"Ryoma-nii is late."

"He isn't going to school today." She said, before picking up the sweater of Seigaku's winter uniform on the hangers near the door and put it on.

"Why not?" he was worried. "Is he sick?"

"No, he's just busy with something." She lied to her brother, not waiting to worrying him. She had sent many messages to Ryoma on the night before, but he didn't reply any of them. As soon as she woke up, she asked him if they could talk on school but he only replied saying he was not going. Sakuno was feeling heartbroken with the whole situation.

She helped her brother get dressed with a sweater as well, before they left home.

###########

Ryoma moved inside his covers when his cell phone vibrated again. Sakuno had sent him another message, saying they were leaving home. He took a deep breath and looked at all the messages she was sent before. She apologized many times and was truly worried about him.

The boy put his phone aside, before laying on his back and putting an arm in front of his eyes. He didn't deserve her. Even though he was childish and unfair, his girlfriend continued to care about him and be incredibly sweet. He knew he would have to talk to Sakuno and apologize, but at the moment he only had energy to sulk. His heart felt clenched inside his chest every time he remembered her happy expression when talking about Natsuo-san.

He wanted to talk to Momoshiro about it, but he would probably scold him. The teenager closed his eyes and hugged his pillow, listening to the falling rain and wishing those bad feelings on his heart would be washed away.

########

"Nee-chan, isn't Ryoma-nii coming to have dinner with us?" Shinji asked after returning from the shower, already on his pajamas. His sister was placing the meal on the low table.

"I don't think he will come today, Shinji." She answered quietly.

"Is he okay?" the little boy looked through the windows. It was still raining a lot. "He never spent so much time apart from us."

"Shinji, you really like Ryoma, right?" she asked with a small smile.

"Yes! He's always nice to me, but there's one thing I like the best about him."

"What is it?"

"He's always nice with you too." The little boy smiled.

The girl's heart was tight with his words and she caressed her brother's hair.

"Let's eat? Otherwise it will get cold."

"Thank you for the food, Nee-chan." He said, with his palms together.

"You're welcome, Shinji."

#########

Ryoma took a deep breath before entering the temple. It was late already and he had sent a message to Sakuno, asking if it was okay for him to go there. The rain continued and he got a little wet going to her place. The front door was opened and he walked silently to her bedroom's door. His girlfriend was studying and raised her face when she heard his voice.

"Can I come in?" he asked shyly.  
"Yes." Her response was dry and while he came close, she returned to her books.

"Chemistry?" he asked, sitting across from her.

"It's the first test next week."

"Ah, sure."

There was a deep and uncomfortable silence between them, until Ryoma found courage to speak again.

"Sakuno, I…"

"I don't want to talk now. I'm busy." Her voice was serious and she continued to look at her book. Ryoma was surprised and hurt with her response.

"Please, Sakuno, I…" the scarlet eyes looked at him and there was a deep frown on her face.

"I don't want to talk to you right now. I was the one who said please yesterday and even so you stomped out of here, without even giving me a chance to talk to you. You never answered any of my texts, so you have no right to ask for my attention. You promised me being your girlfriend wouldn't interfere with school but I had a very difficult time to concentrate on classes today because of the way you treated me."

"I'm sorry, I…" he tried to touch her hand but she pulled away quickly.

"Natsuo-san's only a coworker. I understand you were hurt because your ex-girlfriend cheated on you, but you have no reasons to be upset with me. I have tests, a little brother, housework and two jobs I need to take care of. I have no time to be worrying about a jealous boyfriend, since I did nothing wrong." She lowered her head. "Aside from all that, you also hurt my feelings, so I cannot be around you for now."

"Do you want to break up with me?"

Ryuzaki moved her head negatively.

"I'm still in love of you, Ryoma. But I need some space."

"Okay, I understand." He stood up. "I'm sorry for bothering you."

"Ryoma." She looked at him again and the sadness on the scarlet eyes broke his heart. "Good night."

"Good night, Sakuno." He said, quietly, before leaving.


	37. Chapter 37

"Oh, Ryoma." Momoshiro looked at him surprised. "That's bad."

"I know." They were at Takeshi's room. It was Thursday night and Echizen had stopped by. The teen had told his friend about what happened between him and Sakuno.

"Have you guys talked since then?"

"No. She's stressed with tests, so I'm giving her the space she asked for." He took a deep breath. "How do I fix this?"

"Well, there's not much you can do actually. At least she said she doesn't want to break up. Ryuzaki-san wouldn't say such a thing if she didn't mean it."

"I never thought what happened with Tomoka would affect me so much. I thought I was just angry about it."

"Well, you're with a girl you genuinely like this time. I think it's normal to be afraid after being cheated on. But, you know Ryuzaki-san would never do such a thing, right?"

"Yes." he lowered his head. "I feel so stupid. She was so hurt."

"Hey, it's okay." Momoshiro smiled gently at him. "You know you made a mistake, you're not doing it again, right?"

He moved his head negatively and rapidly.

"That's good then, because jealously is a horrible thing."

"How did you become such a wise guy?"

"Love makes you a better person." He grinned.

###########

"Ryoma-nii?" Shinji and him were at the table of Ryoma's home. It was Friday and he had picked the boy up from school so Sakuno could visit Toudai with Natsuo. Shinji was waiting while Ryoma was at the stove, finishing dinner. He was preparing some noodles with vegetables and grilled pork.

"Yes?" he asked, paying attention to the food.

"When is Nee-chan coming back home?"

"Ah…" he was a little bothered by the question. "She is visiting the university she wants to apply, so she is probably enjoying herself."

"Why didn't you go with her?"

"Boyfriends and girlfriends aren't together all the time." He started to arrange the food on the plates and turned around to look at him with a small smile. "It's okay."

"Really?"

"Yes." He sat across from him, placing their meal.

"Wow, it smells great, Ryoma-nii!" he put his hands together. "Thank you for the food!"

"You're welcome, Shinji."

"It's so good!" he said, finishing chewing.

"Don't speak with your mouth full." He said gently.

"Ryoma-nii?" he said, after eating properly. "What are you doing after finishing high school?"

"Ah…" he ate some of the vegetables before answering. "My parents want me to go to the university."

"What do you want to study?"

"I've never really thought about it. Something that makes easy to find a job right away. I don't have big aspirations; just want to be able to support myself." He ate some meat. "How about you? What do you want to do when you grow up?"

"A professional swimmer!" he grinned. "Going to Olympics and such!"

"Really?"

"Yes! And, with the money I can take care of Nee-chan so she can finally be at ease. I want to have money so not trouble her anymore."

"Shinji…" he was touched with his worry towards his sister even being so young. "You shouldn't think such a thing. You guys are family and family helps each other. Sakuno don't think of taking care of you as trouble at all."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm 100% sure." He said, kindly.

He smiled happily before returning to eat.

#############

Natsuo's heart was beating fast inside his chest. He still couldn't believe he was with Sakuno at Toudai's snackbar. He had showed her all the campus and they went to the medicine building as well. They were having some warm drink, sitting on a distant table. He tried to avoid looking at her while she quietly sipped the hot chocolate. She was so beautiful. Sakuno had told him that she changed outfits before arriving at the university to avoid people staring at them. She was using dark jeans and sneakers and a light blue t-shirt under the black jacket with a hood. Her red hair was tight on a ponytail.

He had being nervous since the day before when she sent him a message confirming seeing each other. It was extremely hard to be close of the girl he liked without being able to say or show anything. He always exhausted in the end of everyday she went to the café and he still didn't know how he was able to keep such a calm composure around her. Natsuo was incredibly happy when she accepted his invitation, but as soon as she arrived, he noticed something was wrong. There was some sadness on the scarlet eyes and even when she smiled or was interested about something. Her thoughts were lost somewhere else.

"Ryuzaki-san?"

"Yes?"

"Is everything all right?" he asked, gently. "You seem worried about something."

"Ah, I'm sorry." She showed him a small smile. "I just have many things on my mind. Tests week and stuff."

"I see. I didn't need a scholarship, I can only imagine how stressful it must be to constantly think about your grades. Specially with all the things you have on your plate."

"It's too much sometimes." She lowered her head a bit, smiling sadly to herself.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" his voice was so gentle and Sakuno looked at him surprised before blushing.

"Not at all! I'm sorry for worrying you. You've always being so kind to me, Natsuo-san, not only today but at work as well and…."

"I like you." He still didn't know where he found the courage to say those words.

The scarlet eyes were big in absolute shock and Sakuno forgot how to speak.

Natsuo blushed entirely and averted his face.

"I like you since the first time I saw you at the café." His words were on a rush. "When I get to know you better, I realized you were not only beautiful, but extremely intelligent and capable as well and…"

"I'm sorry, Natsuo-san." She said, quietly. "I'm very grateful for your feelings, but I already have a boyfriend. I really like him. You even met him before. Do you remember Ryoma? He was at the shop before."

"Ah, I see." He wanted to die! His whole face was burning.

"I'm really sorry."

"Do you…really like him?"

"Yes. I really like him. Ryoma has always been nice to me and my brother, always helped us since we moved in, so…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Ryoma lives near us, so since we moved in he has really help with everything and…"

"Are you sure you like him for real?"

His words surprised her.

"If he's a guy that's always around and helpful, don't you think you can be confusing things? His voice was calm. "Maybe you just think you like him, but it's actually just familiarity?"

She didn't know what to answer.

"You say you really like him, but you didn't even introduce him as your boyfriend before."

She realized what she had done and how hurt Ryoma seemed later. She lowered her head and felt awful.

"You're wrong."

Natsuo was surprised with her tone of voice. It was extremely serious. She raised her face and one scarlet eye was showing trough her bangs.

"Ryoma is my first boyfriend and I'm still clueless about many things, but I know how I feel about him. I have no doubts about it. Please, don't say such rude things."

Sakuno stand up and made a small reverence. "I need to go now, it's getting late. I really appreciate you spending time with me here."

She walked away in fast steps, not even giving him the chance to reply.

########

Ryoma smiled to himself when covering Shinji. They had returned to the temple after having dinner on his place to wait for Sakuno. The boy took a bath, brushed his teeth and Ryoma took him to bed when he fell asleep on the sofa while they were watching tv.

"It's late." He said, looking at the clock on the kitchen. "Sakuno was never so late before."

He took a deep breath after sitting down on the sofa and looked up.

"She's probably having a lot of fun with him."

##########

Sakuno ran at full speed from the train station to her home. It became cold and her face was burning with the night winds. Her heart was beating so fast! She wanted to see Ryoma. She needed to calm down that turmoil of feelings inside her chest.


	38. Chapter 38

Sakuno's breathing was quick and hard when finally arriving at the temple. She stayed in the stairs for a while, wanting to calm herself. The girl entered quietly and smiled to herself when seeing Echizen sleeping at the sofa. He had fallen asleep waiting for her.

The girl took her jacket off and put it over the sofa. She got close silently and caressed his face softly. Her heart was tight inside her chest and she hugged him by his shoulders, making the boy wake up. The golden eyes were wide in surprise and it took him a while to understand what was happening.

"Sakuno?" knees were between his legs and her body was pressed on him. He didn't remember the last time they were so close.

"I missed you so much." She whispered, tightening the embrace. Her voice was terribly sweet.

"I've missed you too." He said quietly, before hugging her too.

They stayed there, just enjoying each other's embrace and warmth for a long while, before Sakuno looked at him and caressed his face again.

"Thank you for bringing Shinji home and taking care of him."

"Don't mention it." His heart was beating so loud inside his chest. He wanted to ask why the sudden change of behavior from her part but he also didn't want to ruin that moment.

He looked inside the scarlet eyes and was about to kiss her when she leaned her body back, getting a little far from him.

"You can't do it yet." There was a small frown on her face and he was a little confused and afraid of acting wrong.

"Eh?!"

"I was so mad at you!" he noticed the scarlet eyes were glistering with tears. "My family was ruined because my mom cheated on my dad. I would never do such a thing!"

"I know." He felt horrible. "I'm so sorry."

"My parents were always saying hurtful things to each other on the last years they were together." She lowered her head. "When you left me like that, I just… remembered those days."

"I'm so sorry, Sakuno. I really am. I hope you can forgive me." He caressed her hair.

Sakuno leaned her forehead on his chest.

"If you ever act like that again, I will break up with you on the spot." Her small hands grabbed his t-shirt. "I don't care how much it will hurt. We will be done."

Ryoma hugged again and kissed her forehead.

"I understand. I promise I will never hurt your feelings like that again. Believe me."

It felt like a hundred years had passed since he felt her soft lips. Sakuno kissed him seriously and deeply with all the longing of a teenage girl missing her boyfriend and being absolutely sure of her feelings. It took Ryoma a while to be at ease and kiss her back. It was entirely new. His hands were on her waist and her tongue was touching his. They kissed for a long time, before Sakuno distanced herself suddenly and it startled him.

"What's wrong?"

"I need to take a shower." She blushed a little and averted her eyes. "I came home running."

"Why?"

"I thought it was going to rain." She couldn't tell him about Natsuo's confession.

"I see." The golden eyes were gentle. "Do you want me to go?"

She moved her head negatively and even thought she was embarrassed, there was no hesitance on her expression.

"Could you wait a little? I want to spend more time with you."

He shoke his head positively and eagerly.

"Go wait in my room." She said, while standing up. "I will be right back."

"Okay."

###########

Ryoma kissed Sakuno's forehead. They were on her bed. The girl's feet touched his under the covers and she giggled.

"Are they cold? I'm sorry."

"Just a little. But it feels good to be here with you." She hugged him.

"Yeah. It's good."

"I didn't know you were jealous."

"I'm sorry." He averted his eyes feeling really embarrassed. "I didn't know what happened, I…"

Her hand was on his face and she looked kindly at him.

"I know that you were hurt because of your ex, but things between us are going to be awful if you don't trust me."

"I trust you, Sakuno. I truly do."

"In the future there will be a lot of new people in my life. Once I go to college, once I start working. You cannot be jealous of them; otherwise we're going to have problems." She made a worried expression. "The time we have together once I move out it's going to be shorter than now, I don't want to spend it arguing with you."

"Sakuno…" he was truly surprised. "You think about us when you go to university and start working? Really?"

She blushed entirely and covered her face with the blanket.

"You… you were the one who said still wanted to date after I moved out, so…"

Ryoma chucked and hugged her tightly.

"Yes, I really want that." The golden eyes were serious. "I will never behave so stupidly again. You won't regret on giving me this second chance."

She hugged him back and her forehead was against his chest.

"Sakuno, can we stay like this a little longer?" his voice was so sweet.

"Yes." She answered gently and smiled to herself, before closing her eyes while listening to his heartbeats.


	39. Chapter 39

Ryoma could hear the soft rain falling outside on that Saturday morning. He felt so comfortable, it was too much of work to open his eyes, but he was a little hungry. What time was it, anyway? The teen tried to move but he a light weight on his chest. He finally woke up and the golden eyes were wide in absolute shock. He was still on Sakuno's bed and his girlfriend was on his chest! She was sleeping so soundly, with slight part-opened lips and calm breathing and Ryoma's heart almost stopped beating.

" _Calm down, calm down! If you startle her, it will be worse!_ " he said to himself.

The teenager took a deep, long breath, wishing to desacelerate his heartbeats and organize the neurons on his brain. He looked at his girlfriend. How could she be so beautiful even sleeping? She looked like a doll.

He restrained himself of touching her and kissing her one more time.

Ryoma was able to get up, slowly and silently and walked toward the door without making a sound. He looked at Sakuno, one more time, with a small smile on his face, before leaving.

#######

Echizen released a relieved breath when the water hit his body. He was looking down and the warm water was running down his black bangs. His heart was finally slowing down properly, but he still couldn't believe in what happened.

Ryoma's forehead touched the tiles and he closed his eyes.

" _We slept together. We spent the night together on the same bed._ " He felt his face burning. The last thing he remembered was his fingers on her hair, while he enjoyed its sweet scent. She fit so well inside his embrace and he wished they share a moment like that again, but not accidently. He wondered if Sakuno would ever invite him to spend the night for real and his chest was heavy. He felt greedy and stupid. Every new step in their relationship would immediately make him crave for more. What that uneasiness on his chest would ever cease someday?

###########

Sakuno smiled when Ryoma opened the door. She was ready to go to work. The teenager was a little surprised to see his girlfriend there since he was about to go to temple to stay with Shinji.

"Sakuno, is everything all right? I was about to go to your place."

"Yes, I just wanted to talk to you a little before going to the café." He noticed a little blush on her face and she held his hand gently. "I'm sorry I feel asleep yesterday. You went home last night and I didn't even say goodbye to you."

"Ah…" he felt embarrassed. She really didn't know they had spent the night together. "Don't worry about it."

"Can we have dinner together when I arrive home?"

"Sure." He showed her a small smile.

Sakuno placed a small kiss on his mouth.

"I see you when I get back."

"Hm." He said, gently. "Go safely."

############

"Ryoma-nii?" They were on the bathroom. Shinji was inside the bath and Ryoma was sitting in a short stool outside, rubbing his hair with the shampoo. It was night already.

"Yes?"

"You really like Nee-chan, right?"

"Yes. Close your eyes." Shinji obeyed before he poured some water to wash the shampoo away from his red hair. "I like her very much."

"Do you think you two are going to be together forever?" Ryoma was a little surprised by his question.

"Why are you asking me such a thing?"

"Because at school, my classmates said that when people like each other a lot, they get married and move out together so they can be together forever."

"Well, it sounds about right."

"But…" he lowered his head. "My mom and dad were married and they were not together. Dad left and later, mom also left us behind."

"Shinji…" he caressed his head and the boy looked at him. The dark green eyes were worried. "Many things can happen in life and people can be apart from each other. But, I really like your sister and I would do my best so we can be together for a long time."

Shinji's eyes were wide in surprise for a moment and then they were filled with tears.

"So, you are going to take her away someday, right?"

"What are you saying?"

"My mom had a lot of boyfriends. She was never around for us. So, one day, one of them just took her away. She didn't even say goodbye."

"Shinji…" it was the first time he talked about their mother to him.

"I really like you, Ryoma-nii and I'm happy you two are together, but…" his voice trembled. "Please, when you take her away, at least, let me say goodbye."

His small shoulders were tense and Ryoma felt horrible. How long was the little boy worrying about such a thing?

"Shinji, listen to me. I'm not taking your sister away from you."

"Really?"

"Of course." He showed him a small smile. "Did I ever lie to you?"

He moved his head negatively.

"Sakuno is never going to leave you behind. No matter what happens in the future, you're always going to be the most important person on her life. Don't you ever think otherwise."

"Even if you two stay together forever?"

"Even so." He golden eyes were so gentle.

"Thank you, Ryoma-nii!" he smiled happily. "If it's like that, I really don't mind sharing her with you."

The teenager chuckled and rubbed his hair a little.

"Thank you."


	40. Chapter 40

Ryoma took a deep and satisfied breath. He was laying on the sofa with Sakuno, his head on her lap and she was caressing his hair. It was such a nice evening. They had dinner with Shinji and Sakuno prepared yakisoba for them. It was delicious. She also had brought red berries' pie from the café. After so many days without talking, he was so happy with those moments they were sharing.

"Tomorrow is my last day at the café." Sakuno said, gently.

"Ah, that's right." He moved and laid on his back.

"I will have more time to study." She smiled.

"Shinji and I had a serious talk today."

"Really? What was it about?"

He sat down and looked at her.

"He was worried I would take you away."

"What?! Why?!"

"He said a boyfriend took your mother away and she didn't even say goodbye."

"Oh, Shinji." She felt so guilty. "I had no idea he felt that way. Even after what happened on his school, he's still keeping things from me."

"He doesn't like to bother you." He smiled gently and caressed her hair, wanting to put her at ease. "You're raising a incredibly person, Sakuno. And, to be fair, it was a guy's talk. He wanted to know if I really liked you and how long we would be together. I think that, if he was older, he would ask my intentions towards you."

She giggled.

"And what did you say to him?"

"That I really like you." The golden eyes were serious. "And that I want to be with you for a long time."

She blushed.

"Thank you for having that conversation with him."

Ryoma touched her face and his thumb brushed on her flushed cheek.

"You're welcome."

Sakuno kissed him. Her heart was overwhelmed with his care and kindness towards her brother and the way he felt about her. The girl never had any doubts about Ryoma's feelings but sometimes the golden eyes seemed to be able to touch all her heartstrings.

Her boyfriend hugged her tightly when her kisses became more intimate and deeper. Ryoma could hear his heartbeats and the blood rushing inside his veins. He stopped the kiss and looked at her a little embarrassed.

"Sakuno, we need to talk about something."

"Is something wrong?" she was worried. "Was it… bad?"

"No, not at all! Kissing you is always amazing."

"So what's it?"

" I… I would like to touch you more someday."

She took a deep breath and Ryoma was already putting apologizes together and be ready for her to go away from him, but, even thought she was blushing deeply and lowered her head the girl didn't leave.

"I know." She said quietly.

"Are you mad?" he tried to see her expression better but the red bangs were over her eyes. "I don't want you to think I want to force you into something or…"

"I don't think that." She looked at him and her face was burning. "I know I didn't know how to act about it before, but… I took some time to think about things."

"Really?"

"Yes. And I understand how you feel. You have dated before, so you're probably expecting this between us as well and…"

"What are you talking about?" he was confused.

"Well… between you and Osakada-san…" she couldn't find the words.

"Sakuno, you're wrong." He was serious. "I never had sex with Tomoka. I never had sex with anyone."

The scarlet eyes were wide in absolute shock.

"What?! Really?! But, you said one of the reasons you two broke up it was because sex was a hassle, so…"

"Ah, that." He finally understood why she misunderstood. "Sorry, I didn't made myself clear back then."

"So, what happened?" he took a deep breath.

"I never liked her for real and it was wrong of me to accept being her boyfriend. I just…wanted to try out and I thought my feelings would change with time. It never happened. She was a good girlfriend, but I didn't think it was right to have sex with her in such conditions. I was ready to break up when she cheated on me with a guy that was graduating high school already. I saw them kissing and we broke up."

"I see." She was a little relieved he had finally told her everything.

Ryoma caressed her hair and the golden eyes were so gentle.

"I'm in love with you, Sakuno. I want things between us to work out and I will do my best. I was so happy when you said you think about us in your future. I think about you as well.

"Ryoma…" she was so touched.

"I don't want to make you feel pressured. I will not go back on what I said. We have our own time and I will always respect you, but I think it's important for you to know how I feel."

"Thank you for talking to me, Ryoma."

"Don't worry, okay?" he showed her a small smile. "Things between us are fine, even if you never want to do it with me."

"Eh?! I've never said such a thing!"

Ryoma was the one who got shocked this time.

"I…I want to do it someday with you too." It took her all her courage to say those words and he noticed her voice was trembling. "But… having sex feels like such a grown up thing and I still don't even have a home for myself. So… I don't have any confidence yet."

"Sakuno…"

"I gave you all my first times so far. I want to share that with you as well, but, at least let me have a proper house and…my own bed."

Echizen was sure his heart had stopped. He cupped her face and kissed her hard and seriously for a long time. She was starting to be breathless when he hugged her tightly.

"Thank you, Sakuno."

She smiled to herself and just hugged him back, feeling happily they had finally talk things thought and could erase her uneasiness about the subject, at least for a little while more.


	41. Chapter 41

"Congratulations on the adoption!" Momoshiro and Ann shouted, happily. They were at the temple and it was Saturday night. The tests at school had ended already. Sakuno had finally received the adoption papers from the Child's Service. Everything was stamped and signed properly. Adachi was the one who sent those to hers and she was very thankful for all the help her father's wife provided them.

They talked to their friends about it and the couple suggested a small party to celebrate it. Ryoma totally agreed, since he knew how much his girlfriend had stressed over the matter. He was with Sakuno when she told Shinji the good news and the little boy had the happiest smile on his face. The siblings hugged each other tightly and Shinji was more excited yet when they told him about the party.

Ryoma had bought a beautiful chocolate cake and Takeshi and Ann brought other snacks. Sakuno was cutting the pieces of the cake while they were eating the small sandwiches.

"I'm so glad everything worked out well for you guys." Ann smiled at Sakuno when she offered the dessert to them.

"So, in pratical terms, what does it mean, Ryuzaki-san?" Momoshiro asked, before eating a piece of cake.

"Well, it actually doesn't change much. It just makes me responsible for Shinji legally as well." She smiled at her brother and caressed his hair.

"We're officially a family of two now!" he said, between bites. He was eating happily.

"Also, it will be easier for her to make some decisions for him, like applying for school and medical services." Ryoma completed.

"And what are you plans from now on?" Ann asked. "This job is going to end soon, right? Do you already thought about a place to live?"

"No, but…" she looked at her boyfriend and the golden eyes were gentle. "I'm certain things will work out fine, as well."

"Ryuzaki-san is so mature!" Takeshi teased his friend. "I'm so glad Ryoma is well taken care of!"

"What are you, my mother?" Echizen made an annoyed face and Momoshiro laughed at him.

"Talking about your parents, Echizen-kun, do they know you two are dating?" Ann asked.

"We're going to tell them." Sakuno responded, seriously and Ryoma was surprised. "We're going to tell them as soon as they come back." She looked at Ryoma. "It's time, right?"

"Hm." Her boyfriend showed her a small smile.

"Oh! Really?! Nanjirouh-san's going to tease you so much!" Takeshi smiled.

#########

"Ryoma?" They were finishing organizing things at the kitchen after the party ended and Shinji went to bed.

"Yes?"

"Winter vacations are coming soon. Is there anything you would like to do together?"

"Hm." He was thoughtful for a moment. "Not really. It will be okay spending it with you and Shinji as always."

"Really? What kind of things did you do when we were not dating?"

"I stayed home and watched tv or played videogames with Momo."

"Even on your birthday?"

"My parents usually would buy cake and pizza or we would go out for dinner." He showed her a small smile. "Shinji asked me if we could have a cake for our birthday this year."

"Is there anything you want for your birthday at least?" she smiled gently. "You can ask. Anything."

"I'm all good."

"Not even a new game? Or some particular food? I can cook for you, anything at all."

"Well…" he felt a little shy and averted his eyes. "There is something I would like very much."

"What is it?" she asked, with a smile.

It took him a while to look at her again. The golden eyes were serious, but very gentle.

"I want us to spend the night together. Can we?"

She blushed terribly and was about to distance herself from him when he held her hand.

"Sakuno, we're only going to sleep. I promise I won't do anything beyond that."

"But…but…"

"Since Shinji and I share a birthday, we can do it one day before. I also want to take you out on a date, just the two of us. I can ask Momo and Takahashi-san to take care of him."

"Ryoma…" her heart was almost jumping from her chest.

He came close and his thumb brushed her flushed cheek.

"I just… want to be with you." Her boyfriend investigated her expression. "Can we?" Ryoma asked again, investigating her expression. The girl averted her eyes and moved her head positively. He smiled and hugged her tight.

"Thank you, Sakuno."

"Just sleeping!" she looked at him seriously, even still very embarrassed. She was extremely cute and Ryoma placed a small kiss on her lips.

"You can kick me out any time, okay?"

"Okay." She whispered, before kissing him too.


	42. Chapter 42

"Sakuno found a place she liked." Ryoma said, between bites of the pizza. He was on Momoshiro's bedroom.

"Really?!" he smiled. "That's great!"

"She is going to take Shinji there on the last day of school. If he likes it, she's going to close the deal. She showed me the pictures, it's really nice."

"Is it far from your place?" he ate a slice.

"Not much. 15 minutes walking, I guess. She doesn't want to be far from Seigaku and it's close from a subway too."

"Ah, that's good. And how about the 23rd? Do you still need me and Ann to take care of Shinji?"

"Yes, please."

"Where are you taking Ryuzaki-san?" he grinned.

"I thought about an Italian place. There's a small one I found that has good reviews and it fits my budget."

"Oh, you really put thought on it, right?"

"Of course. It will be our first Christmas together. Even if it's not on Christmas exactly, I want to make things properly."

"You're so in love!" he teased his friend.

"What about you? Have plans with Takahashi-san?"

"Her parents are traveling, so…" he blushed. "She invited me to spend the night on the 24th."

"I see." Ryoma answered with a blank expression before eating another slice.

"Ah! I got you something." He stood up and went to his backpack, returning briefly after with a small box on his hand.

"What's it?"

"Here." He put it on Ryoma's hand. A box of condoms.

"What's this?!" he was shocked.

"You don't know?" Momoshiro made a surprise face. "You always seemed so intelligent…"

"Of course I know!" Echizen blushed entirely. "Why are you giving me these?!"

"You're a guy with a girlfriend." He said it like it was obvious.

"But I don't need these! We're not doing anything of the sort! " he tried to give it back but Takeshi smiled gently at him.

"So just keep it. There's no harm in being safe, if and when something happens." He said, gently.

"All right, then." He whispered, putting the small package on his pocket, even though he was still embarrassed.

#############

Ryoma stopped and smiled to himself when seeing his girlfriend in front of the wall with the lists of grades from the final term. Classes had already finished and the school grounds were empty. Sakuno had a proud smile on her face. She, once again, was the top student of their grade. It was Friday, the last day before winter vacations and she was waiting for him to pick up Shinji together.

He got close, without her seeing him and put his hand on the top of her head, surprising her.

"Congratulations."

Sakuno grinned happily.

"Thank you! And congratulations to you too! You really improve your last grades."

"It's because my girlfriend is a genius and an awesome teacher."

She giggled.

"Let's go? Shinji is waiting for us."

"Yes." He said, kindly.

They were walking down the cold streets, close to each other. Sakuno was wearing a thick white scarf and Ryoma had a black jacket over his uniform. The girl looked at him and the scarlet eyes were gentle.

"What is it?" Ryoma asked.

"You're are going to be 18 soon. How does it feel?"

"Normal, I guess. You will be 18 soon as well, right? January 14th." She noticed some sadness on his eyes and held his hand.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's really happening, right? You guys are moving out soon."

"Ryoma…"

"Don't get me wrong." He squeezed her hand a little. "I'm really proud of everything you achieved, Sakuno and happy you guys will have a home for your own, but..."

"I know how you feel. Sharing all those days with you, it was amazing. That temple will always be our first home." She looked at him. "And I will always be grateful for the place I was able to meet you."

Ryoma's heart was filled with her words and he kissed her hand. She smiled and they quietly continued to walk side by side, while holding hands.

#########

"Nee-chan! Ryoma-nii!" Shinji smiled happily when seeing them at the school gates and ran to them.

"How's your last day at school?" Sakuno smile at him.

"Did you have fun?" Ryoma asked.

"Yes!" he picked up a piece of paper from the pocket of his blue jacket. "I've got my report card, Nee-chan! Look!"

Sakuno started to read and looked at him surprise. Her brother was always a good student, but, this times, his grades were almost perfect."

"Shinji, this is awesome! You got so many great marks!" she showed it to Ryoma.

"Wow." He looked at the little boy. Shinji had a proud smile on. "You're as amazing as your sister, Shinji. I'm feeling stupid near you too now."

He laughed.

"I worked hard so I could try a scholarship on Seigaku, so we can be together next year!"

Ryoma touched his hair and messed up a little, making the boy smile.

"You did great, Shinji."

"This report card deserves a special dinner!" Sakuno smiled at her brother. "What do you think about pizza?"

"Yeah! Pizza!"

"But first we need to go somewhere. There's a place I want to show you."

"What place?" he held her hand while they started walking.

"It's a surprise."

"Okay!"

Sakuno looked at her boyfriend and they smiled at each other.

##########

The three of them walked for a while, while talking to each other. They arrived at a beautiful tall building and Shinji looked up, amazed. Sakuno spent the entire last week talking with a real estate Jun had appointed her. She had visited a few places before her eyes and heart stopped with that specific apartment.

"Close your eyes, Shinji." She said when they were by the door.

"Okay!" the little boy agreed and she smiled at her boyfriend before opening.

"You can see now."

The green eyes were wide in surprise. The apartment had a nice living room and a varanda with double doors.

"Wow! Such a great place!" he crossed the living room and went to investigate the bedrooms and the bathroom. He returned to them with a big smile on his face. "Why are we here, Nee-chan?"

"Did you like it?"

"Yes!"

Sakuno kneeled in front of him and her hands were on his shoulders.

"If it's okay with you, this is our new home." She smiled kindly at him. "I'm going to buy this apartment."

"Eh?! What do you mean?! How did you get such place, Nee-chan?!"

"She worked really hard for your sake." Ryoma touched his hair and showed him a small smile.

"Thank you, Nee-chan!" he hugged his sister tightly by her shoulders and Sakuno smiled, hugging him as well. "Thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it." She cupped his face and leaned his forehead on his. Her voice was so sweet. "I'm always going to take good care of you."

##########

Ryoma was waiting for Sakuno at her bed. She returned after taking a shower. Shinji was already in bed. Laying by her boyfriend's side, she hugged his torso. After leaving their apartment, they went to have pizza for dinner and then, returned home.

"He was so happy!"

"You're happy too, right?" the golden eyes were gentle.

"Yes!" she grinned. "I finally feel like a real adult."

She was so beautiful, surrounded by an aura of pure happiness. Ryoma's fingers brushed her face softly and he looked deep inside her eyes.

"You're amazing, Sakuno."

"Thank you, Ryoma. All these big steps I took, you're always by my side. Please, stay by my side on the next ones as well." Her voice was so sweet.

He wasn't able to respond to such words. His chest was heavy with feelings for her. Echizen kissed her seriously but tenderly. Sakuno responded on the same intensity. One of her hands grabbed his t-shirt, bringing her boyfriend closer, deepening the kiss.

Ryoma knew she didn't like long kisses and was about to break it when she pressed her body and it surprised him. His hands stopped on her hips and he embraced her. They continued to kiss for a long time.

When their lips finally separated, Sakuno was blushing.

"I love you, Sakuno." Ryoma whispered and the golden eyes were serious but filled with tenderness.

Sakuno's heart was clenched inside her chest and she didn't know what to say.

Her thumb brushed his cheek and she kissed him again, softly and slowly.

She was blushing even more when the kiss stopped at that time.

"I wanna do it."

"Eh?" his mind was all foggy. "Do what?"

She grabbed his shirt and he noticed her hands were trembling. The golden eyes were wide in absolute shock when he finally realized it.

"Do… it? It?! But… you said…"

"I know what I've said!" she averted her eyes. "But… I… I really…."

He caressed her hair.

"Are you sure?" he whispered.

"Yes. I'm sure."

Ryoma hugged her tightly, wanting to comfort and put her at ease. She was so embarrassed.

"Okay." He said, before kissing her forehead.


	43. Chapter 43

Ryoma looked at himself in front of the mirror in his bathroom. His heart was almost dropping from his chest and he was so nervous. He said to Sakuno he needed to take a shower, but actually he needed to oxygenate his brain and not dying from the stress.

"We… are really going to do it."

Was that a dream?! On the other side of the house his gorgeous girlfriend was waiting for him. How long was he there anyway?! Even though he waited and wished for that moment for so long, the teen was totally shocked and the blood was running cold inside his veins. It seemed like all his muscles and joints were stiff.

"Calm down, _baka_. You're going to make her nervous too! She's entrusting herself to you!" he scolded himself on the mirror, the golden eyes filled in a mix of anxiety and determination.

He picked up one of the condoms from the small box Momoshiro had given him and he reunited all the courage he had on those steps.

The path from his home to the temple never seemed longer. He stood in front of Sakuno's room from a moment. The old door was everything separating him from the girl he was in love with. She had made him a better person, a better boyfriend. He swallowed hard before his hand slid the shoji open and close.

Sakuno was sitting on the futon, watching the snow that had just started to fall and she turned around when he arrived. She showed her a small, shy smile and Ryoma was sure she was never more beautiful under that dim light.

Ryuzaki didn't really know how things happened before her boyfriend was back on her bed. His fingers brushed her skin and his mouth was touching hers. She melted on those slow and sweet kisses, being able to hide her complete nervousness for a moment.

But, that strong façade vanished completely when the boy's hand touched her t-shirt, about to lift it and she pulled back, looking at him with an embarrassed and upset expression.

"What are you doing?!"

"Eh? What…" he was so confused. "But… can't I touch you?"

"You can't take my shirt off!" her cheeks were in the same tone of her hair. "Please… otherwise, I will die."

"But I want to touch you." Ryoma was disappointed. He came close and kissed her cheek gently. "Can I do it underneath your t-shirt?" he whispered, his lips on her neck and it was so distracting. "Please?"

She looked at him and the golden eyes were filled with tenderness. Sakuno moved her head positively and silently. She averted her face and didn't notice the small smile on his features. Ryoma's hand touched her belly and the air was caught on her throat. She put her hand in front of her face and closed her eyes. It seemed all her sensitive cells were on those fragments of skin he was touching so slowly.

His hands were on her waist and he was surprised to discover those new soft curves. He placed a small kiss on her navel and the girl trembled.

"You're so beautiful, Sakuno." His voice was low and serious.

"Don't say such a thing!" she complained, not waiting him to see her expression. Her face was burning.

"Please, look at me." He asked, gently, touching her fingers.

"I can't. My heart is about to stop." She removed her hand a little and finally looked at him again. "How can you be so calm?!"

Echizen removed his shirt and placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. His upper body was lean and beautiful. She could feel the crazy heartbeats.

"I'm not calm at all. It's always like this when I'm with you."

Sakuno's heart turned around her chest and she touched his face, bringing him to another kiss.

" _Ryoma's bare skin._ " The thought crossed her mind when she felt his warmth close. One of his hands shyly touched her chest under the shirt and pressed it a little. Ryoma thought if felt amazing even with her lacy bra.

They kissed for a long time and, without noticing, he was between her thighs.

 _"Is that his…?_ " Ryuzaki panicked a little when feeling that strange rigidity pressed on her pajama pants while they kissed.

Like sensing her discomfort, he stopped the kiss and caressed her flushed face.

"Do you want me to stop?"

He looked so handsome under that soft light, the long breathes and the slow movements of his chest.

"No." her voice trembled but that little word was absolutely truthful.

Ryoma kissed her again and, this time, his hand wandered from her chest to her hips, his fingers pushing away those annoying pieces of cloth between them. Sakuno helped him with a slow movement of her legs and her boyfriend was happy that, even being so shy and nervous, she was really willing to continue.

He laid on his side, hugging her tightly while continuing to kiss, before removing his own pants in a quick and clumsy way. He was sure he was the one who is going to die soon.

"Sakuno, I need to…" the words were all scattered in his brain and she was a little confused when he broke the kiss.

But, seeing him going to his pants and picking up a small foil package, she understood his actions. She felt a little disappointed at hersel for not thinking about such a crucial thing, but she was also happy Ryoma was being so responsible with her body.

"How long do you have it?" Sakuno asked when he was on top of her again and he blushed deeply.

"Ah, not long ago! I'm not a pervert or anything, so…!"

She chuckled with his nervousness and Ryoma felt even more in love when she finally smiled at him again.

Ryoma touched her leg, positioning himself and he kissed the soft skin on the curve of her knee.

"Can I?"

The spark of the golden eyes hit deep inside her soul and Sakuno caressed his cheek, giving him the final permission.

His narrow hips went forward and her arms were around his shoulders tightly. Ryoma released a deep, long breath and it seemed like centuries had passed by until he was able to speak again due to that amazing sensation.

"Sakuno, are you all right?" he wanted to raise his body a little to see her, but she only held him even tighter, not allowing him to move.

"It hurts." Her voice broke and Ryoma felt the moist on his shoulder. He looked at her and big, serious tears were pouring down her face. "It really hurts, Ryoma!"

He distanced himself from her in a quick and scared movement. She laid on her side, her body curled entirely on herself, her hands on her lower abdomen.

"Sakuno, I'm sorry!" he didn't know what to do. "I'm so sorry! What can I do?!" he touched her for a brief moment and felt her body trembling, before she screamed at him, hiding her face on the pillows.

"Don't touch me!"

She pulled the covers close and covered herself completely, hiding from him. Echizen could hear his heart shattering inside his chest.

"Sakuno…."

"Go away." She sobbed. "I need to be alone. Please!"


	44. Chapter 44

Sakuno opened her eyes in a slow movement. She was still under the heavy covers, not moving since the night before. She was crying silent tears while listening to Ryoma putting his clothes back. The boy stood up and said "good night" in the saddest voice before leaving her room. She fell asleep with her chest hurting and with the heavy feeling she was an absolute failure as a girlfriend.

She didn't regret it. She didn't change her mind. Even though she was embarrassed to death and had no confidence on her body or if she would be any good, she really wanted him to be the one. His soft touches, the warmth of his body, his gentle kisses, the way the golden eyes looked at her like she was something precious made Ryuzaki understood about desire. She was ready to accept everything from him.

There were new tears invading her eyes. She had ruined such a sweet, perfect moment. She said she felt like an adult, but, in reality she was still just a scared little girl. Ryoma was probably going to break up with her. He had waited so much to have such a disappointing first time and it was all her fault.

It was December 23rd. On that night she was supposed to have a date with Ryoma and spend the night together. She had even bought a new outfit for it. But he was probably going to cancel everything right?

She removed part of the covers and looked at the alarm clock near. It was almost 8:30. Shinji would be up soon. She wanted to stay in bed all day, she didn't want to deal with anything, but she had to, at least, make him breakfast.

Sakuno stood up and her steps were extremely heavy. She knew she couldn't sulk for a long time, there was housework and other things to worry, but, at least on that morning, she wanted to return to bed as soon as possible.

############

Ryoma continued to look at the ceiling. He wasn't able to sleep at all. He called himself stupid a thousand times since he returned home. He had hurt Sakuno and also felt incredible useless, for leaving his girlfriend crying and alone on her bed after what happened. He wanted to hug her tightly and apologize. But, it was even possible for her to forgive him? Sakuno had surrendered her body to him. Having sex was about trust. It was more than being naked in front of someone. Yesterday he felt without any defenses, exposing his heart wide open.

He laid on his side and looked at his hand. It seemed incredible that, just a few moments before, he was actually able to touch the girl he loved. He had to hold back a lot, he wanted to kiss her entirely and touch every inch of hers. He wanted to explore everything, but he knew it would be too much and she would probably scold him if he tried to do it.

How could things ended up so badly?

His thoughts were interrupted for a while when his cellphone vibrated. He sat down and picked it up, looking at Momoshiro's message. He was telling him he and Ann would pick Shinji up at 6:30.

"Oh, no." He had forgotten about the date. Echizen was about to send a message to his friend to apologize and cancel things, when he heard Shinji's voice calling his name on the front door.

He stood up quickly and went to the little boy.

"Ryoma-nii, good morning." He had a worried look on his face.

"Shinji, is everything okay? Why are you here?"

"I think Nee-chan is sick. She prepared me breakfast and, as soon as I finished, she returned to her room and didn't leave since then. I called her to have lunch, but she said she wasn't hungry. She didn't even move from the bed. She's very quiet and her voice is sad."

Ryoma felt awful.

"Shinji, can you wait for me? I will take a quick shower and change clothes. I will go there to talk to her, okay?" he caressed his hair. "You're such a good brother."

"Okay, Ryoma-nii."

"I will be right back."

############

"Sakuno?" Ryoma called her gently from a breach on her door. "Can I come in?"

She sat down quickly and shocked, her face burning.

"What are you doing here?!"

"Shinji called me. He was worried about you. He thinks you're sick." He leaned his forehead on the door. "I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now, but, please, let me talk to you."

It took her a while to give him permission.

He entered silently. She was sitting on the futon and the long hair was in front of her face. She was nervously pressing her hands inside each other. Ryoma sat on the floor, near her bed.

"Shinji told me you didn't eat anything today and you barely left the bed." He wanted her to look at him so much. "Is the pain that great? Do you want to go to a doctor? I can take you. You don't have to deal with it by yourself."

She moved her head negatively.

"It's not hurting anymore." She said, quietly.

Ryoma felt a little relieved.

"Sakuno, look at me. Please."

"I can't." her voice shattered. "If I look at you, I will cry again. My face is horrible and my eyes are hurting."

"Sakuno…"

"I know you'll break up with me and I promise I will not make a scene, but, please, don't do it today, not now. I've cried so much already and I don't think I will be able to stop if you break up with me today."

He noticed her small shoulders were trembling. She was surprised when her boyfriend's hand covered hers and he came a little closer.

"What are you talking about?"

A small tear landed on his hand.

"Why would you keep a girlfriend that cannot have sex?" she sobbed. "I thought I was ready, I said it was okay, but I'm nothing but a stupid, coward brat. I felt so ashamed I couldn't even look at you. I totally ruined our first time."

The scarlet eyes were wide in surprise when Ryoma hugged her tightly, his chin on the top of her head and she froze.

"Didn't you remember what I said before? I love you." He caressed her hair. "You felt painful because I was clueless and stupid and I hurt you. I wasn't able to put you at ease and you were tense. I hope you can forgive me. I wanted to treat your body well and make you feel good, but…"

"I felt good!" she finally looked at her and the scarlet eyes were glistering with tears and extremely honest. "I really felt good with you, Ryoma! I thought my heart was melting when you touched me!"

"Sakuno…" he was the one surprised.

"A while after you left, it stopped hurting. I felt even more stupid, because I panicked. If only I was able to endure it and…"

"I don't want you to endure anything, Sakuno. If whenever I touch you makes you feel uncomfortable on any way, I want you to tell me." He caressed her face. "You are very precious to me. All of you. I'm not dating you for sex."

"But what if I panic again? What if we cannot do it again? What if we're never able to do it?"

"It's okay." He showed her a small smile.

"Really? Won't you be frustrated?"

He placed a small kiss on her lips.

"I told you before, we have our own time. There's no need to rush for anything." The golden eyes looked deeply at her. "I would be satisfy just by kissing you."

She returned to bed, holding the covers and hiding her flushed face.

Ryoma smiled and hugged her from behind.

"Momoshiro sent me a message about picking up Shinji. I should probably cancel it, right?"

"Yes." she touched his hand. "I want to stay home with you."

He was so happy.

"Okay. I will prepare something nice for us on dinner." He kissed her cheek. "And I will bring something for you to eat now. You're probably hungry right? And it will put Shinji at ease."

"Thank you."

He left the bed and was near the door when she turned around and called him. Sakuno finally showed him a small smile.

"Ryoma?"

"Yes?"

"Can you still spend the night?" she blushed a little and his heart jumped.

"Sure."


	45. Chapter 45

Ryoma and Shinji blew the small candles of their birthday cakes, while Sakuno, Momoshiro and Ann clapped happily. Sakuno had surprised them with two beautiful homemade cakes. There was one with vanilla and cream and the other one had chocolate. She had made it from scratch on the night before. Her boyfriend didn't even realize that she left the bed for a couple of hours before returning.

On the night before Echizen prepared dinner for her and Shinji. It was grilled beef and some steam vegetables with rice and the siblings liked it very much. They talked and played with Shinji on the living room until it was time for him to go to bed.

Something had changed between them on that moment he went to her room again. Maybe it was the familiarity, the other milestones they had shared together, maybe it was the fact she was the one who invited him to spend the night, but, the sleepover was a very calm moment for both of them. They laid together and spent a long time in a comfortable silence. Ryoma caressed her soft hair and kissed her forehead, enjoying the sweet smell once more. They fell asleep quietly and slowly, holding each other close. Ryuzaki woke up an hour later and spent some time just admiring him sleeping, before silently getting up and going to the kitchen.

When she returned, she gently caressed Ryoma's sleeping face before hugging him close and falling asleep again.

He woke up earlier, so Shinji wouldn't see him on her room. It was terribly painful to leave his beautiful girlfriend sleeping by his side and it took all his strength and determination to not kiss her awake. If HE started, he would never leave that bed. He left her cell phone near with a message from him saying he was going home and he would see her after breakfast. He also wanted to give the siblings some private time for themselves.

"My boy is all grown up!" Momoshiro hugged his friend tightly making everyone laugh.

"Yeah, yeah." Ryoma said, with a boring voice. "You can let me go now."

"Shinji, happy birthday." Ann took a small gift package from her bag. "This is from me and Takeshi."

"Really? Thank you Ann-chan!" he started to opened eagerly.

"Thank you so much." Sakuno smiled at him. "You didn't have to."

"Wow!" he showed them a portable videogame. "That's amazing!"

"Did you like it?" Momoshiro asked.

"Yes!" he stood up and hugged the couple. "Thank you so much!"

"Shinji, I also have something to you." Ryoma said, picking up an envelope from his pants and showed him a small smile. "It's from Mom and Dad, they said you can choose something for yourself. And, I'm going to pay for the games you want for your videgame."

"Really?! Thank you, Ryoma-nii!" he opened and there was some money inside. "I'm rich! Nee-chan, look!" he showed to Sakuno.

"Let's go out next week, okay?"

"Yes! I will put the rest on my piggy bank!"

"Ah, Shinji, you're such a good kid!" Momoshiro rubbed his hair and made him giggle.

###########

Ryoma was inside, at the kitchen, washing the dishes. It was night already and the party had finished. They had eaten from both of the cakes, talked and laughed. Momoshiro order some pizza and him and his girlfriend left after dinner.

It was still snowing outside, but it was not windy, so it was pleasant. Shinji was sitting on the porch and Sakuno had just gone outside to give him some hot chocolate.

"Here." Sakuno smiled gently at her brother and he smiled back.

"Thank You, Nee-chan." He picked up the cup and blew it before drinking the sweet and rich liquid.

"So, did you like your birthday?"

"Yes, it was perfect, Nee-chan! Thank you so much!" he grinned happily.

"I'm glad."

"Can we have it again next year?"

"Sure." She caressed his hair. "From now on, we will always have birthday parties and birthday cakes, Shinji. Everything will be all right."

He lowered his head.

"Thank you so much, Nee-chan. For today and everything you have been doing for me so far, since I was born. You always took such good care of me, even if your life would be so much easier if I was not around."

"Shinji, what are you talking about? Everything I achieve, it was because of you." She smiled gently. "I cannot even imagine how my life would be without you. You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Nee-chan…" he looked at her and the scarlet eyes were so kind.

"I will take care of you until you're all grown up. And then, you will meet a beautiful girl and will probably forget about me."

"I would never do that!" he said, seriously.

"Really?" she teased him.

"Yes!" his round face with a serious expression was so cute. "When I grow up, I'm the one who will take care of you, Nee-chan!"

"I will be on your care, then." She cupped his face and kissed his forehead. "Thank you, Shinji."

#############

Sakuno and Ryoma were kissing on the sofa. Shinji had gone to bed and they were enjoying some alone time. The kisses were long and soft and calm. His hand was brushing her face and she was sitting on his lap.

"Thank you for the party." He said, the golden eyes gentle. "And for the cake. Both of them."

She smiled and hugged his torso.

"I'm glad you liked it."

"It was perfect."

"Thank you for the gift for Shinji."

"Don't mention it." He caressed her hair and took a deep breath. "I need to go home. My parents are arriving at midnight."

"I see." She kissed him again before standing up. "Let's go."

"Yes." He took her hand and they went to the door.

"I'm sorry we will not be able to do anything on Christmas."

"Don't apologize. You have to spend the day with your parents; they're probably missing you a lot."

"Are you sure you still want to tell them about us dating?"

"Yes." She squeezed his hand a little. "I'm sure."

"Good." He showed her a small smile before kissing her again.

This time the kisses were serious, deep and wet and their bodies were pressed together when the teen hugged his girlfriend.

"I really need to go home." Ryoma whispered, looking at the scarlet eyes.

"Yeah." She whispered back, the golden eyes on her. Her hands were on his nape and it was very distracting. He kissed her again.

"Why do I have to go home again?"

"Your parents." She smiled.

"Ah, yes…" he leaned his head on her forehead and she giggled.

"Go. I will go with Shinji to say hello to your parents at night."

"Okay." He took a deep breath and stood straight. "Good night."

"Good night." She opened the door to him and watched him leave under the falling snow. There was a smile on her face and Sakuno was sure that was the best Christmas Eve of her entire life.


	46. Chapter 46

"Ryoma and I are dating." Sakuno said, clearly and seriously, looking at Rinko and Nanjirouh sitting across the table from her and Ryoma. Shinji was by her side.

The Echizen couple had returned home on the early hours of the Christmas Day and Ryoma woke up with the smell of his mother's cooking entering his room. He went to the kitchen to find them having breakfast. His father messed up his hair and his mother smiled gently at him, both of them wishing happy birthday to their son.

Sakuno and Shinji were invited by Rinko to have dinner on their place. Everything was well, the food was great and they were really having a good time. Her boyfriend almost believed that she would not bring their relationship into the discussion when she decided to surprise them just after dessert was served.

There was a deep silence, except for Shinji that continued to be concentrating on his cheesecake. Nanjirouh had a shocked look on his face and Rinko blinked twice.

Sakuno was afraid of their silent reaction and her heart was beating so fast.

"I'm sorry, I know this is a surprise." Her words were rushed. "It was not something planned, it just happened. I really like Ryoma and I hope you can accept me. I can guarantee that it didn't interfere on my duties with the temple, so…"

"Shinji-kun, did you know about that?!" Nanjirouh asked the little boy and he just smiled at him.

"Yes! Nee-chan is much happier now. I'm very grateful to Ryoma-nii."

"Oh, my." Rinko giggled. "If Shinji-kun accepted you, how could we say otherwise?"

"Really?" Sakuno asked.

"Well, it's not like it's something unthinkable. You two did spend a lot of time together; I think it was bound to happen."

"Kaa-san, Sakuno taught me a lot. She's the reason I know how to cook and take care of a home properly now. My grades also improved because she was always studying with me, even thought she was so busy." Ryoma's voice was so sweet while talking about her and it made her blush.

"I never thought that it would be possible." Nanjioruh was overwhelmed. "This apathetic son of mine finally found himself a girlfriend! And a wonderful girl nonetheless." He made a reverence to Sakuno. "Thank you so much for taking care of him!"

"Hey, why are you talking like I'm a handful?" Ryoma complained and they laughed at his words.

#######

"Hey, son." Nanjirouh and Ryoma were at the kitchen organizing things. Sakuno and Shinji returned to the temple after dinner and his mother was taking a shower. His girlfriend also told his parents about their new home and they talked about their moving. The siblings were going to leave on January 1st."Are you okay with them moving out soon?"

"Yeah. It's something they really deserve. Those two, they really went through some heavy stuff."

"It's a good thing Ryuzaki-san already has all figure out, right?" she had told them about her plans to university and career. "She's going to be an awesome doctor someday."

"She sure is." There was a hint of sadness on his small smile. "It's a little scary. She has everything planned and I don't even know what I want to do with my life."

"I was just a freshman in college when I met your mom. It was love at first sight. She was already at the photography club." Nanjirouh's voice was gentle. "I got in the club because I wanted to spend more time with her, but I was never nearly as talent as her. So, when we graduate from university, I became her assistant. Even though it was the only thing I could do, I just wanted to be near her, supporting her."

"Tou-san…" it was the first time he heard about his father's feelings.

"In the end, I think what really matters is how reliable can you be. Even though I inhered this place and the temple, we had rough times and little money in the beginning so it took us a while to be able to start a family. But I would walk all those steps again, just to be with her." He looked kindly at his son. "Ryuzaki-san has a lot of responsibilities on her plate, she still has many years until Shinji-kun is all grown up and ready to have his own life. Are you ready for such a thing? Medical school is hard enough without taking care of a home and raising a child. She's really going to need you, especially to be understanding."

"I'm ready." Ryoma said, without any hesitation on the golden eyes. "Even though I still don't know what professional path I will take, I know that I want to be with Sakuno. No matter what."

"It's good to hear that."

"Tou-san, thank you for hiring Sakuno. You gave her a chance to improve their lives and it really helped her."

"Don't mention it." He smiled. "I'm glad I could help."


	47. Chapter 47

"Are you worried about Shinji?" Ryoma asked to his girlfriend. It was New Year's Eve and the streets were silent and empty. They were walking while holding hands. It was a cold night, but it had stopped snowing a couple hours before and everything was white.

After Christmas they started to prepare things for their moving day that would happen on January 1st.

"A little." She looked at him gently. Her brother was at the Echizen's. He had fallen asleep due to tiredness on Rinko's sofa and she told Sakuno they would take care of him so they could go to the temple with Ann and Momoshiro. She said she could pick him up in the morning. "He was really excited to come here with us."

"Well, it's only natural he would be exhausted, you guys worked so hard today." The siblings had spent all day packing and cleaning the temple.

"Thank you so much for your help again, Ryoma." She hugged his arm.

"You're welcome." He kissed her forehead.

###########

"You guys!" Momoshiro waved happily when seeing Ryoma and Sakuno. They were already at the temple's entrance and the place was crowded.

"Hello, Momoshiro-san, Ann-chan." Sakuno smiled at him. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year to you too. Where is Shinji-chan?" Ann asked.

"He fell asleep at my place, Mom is taking care of him." Ryoma said.

"Sakuno-san, you're moving tomorrow, right?" Momoshiro asked. "Do you guys need help with things?"

"Nanjirouh-san said he would take us there." She smiled. "I already bought a new stove and other things to our place, so there are only a few boxes. Thank you for the offer."

"Sakuno-chan, are you excited about moving to your own place?"

"Yes!" she grinned. "Even though it's still too plain. But, with time, we will decorate things the way we like. Shinji says he wants a blue wall on his room."

"Call us if you need help with stuff, okay?" Takeshi smiled at her. "And invite us over when things are ready, otherwise we will miss your food!"

She giggled at his comment.

###########

Ryoma looked at his girlfriend while she quietly prayed. Her hands were together and she had a peaceful expression with her eyes closed. She was wearing a light blue wool hat that combined with her light blue overcoat. He would like to see her in a kimono, but she was terribly cute as well. Her cheeks were a little flushed because of the cold. She finished her pray and looked at him with a smile.

"What did you wish for?"

"It's a secret." She held his hand. "Let's get along next year too, Ryoma."

"Yes." He showed her a small smile.

"Did you two finished?" Ann and Takeshi came close. "There's a place serving ramen near. Do you want to go with us?"

"Ah, that's a good idea!" Sakuno smiled. "But, I cannot take long, since Shinji and I will have a busy day tomorrow."

"Just a bowl of ramen and we will be out of there." Momoshiro said.

They went to the restaurant and it was full as well, but luckily they were able to arrange a table. It took a while for them to get their food. It was delicious and they were happy and talked about their plans for classes after winter break.

It was almost dawn when they returned to the temple, saying goodbye to their friends a few blocks away.

"It's New Year's already." Sakuno smiled, looking up to the sky when they entered the temple's front garden. "I need to separate some money to give to Shinji before we move out. He's going to be happy, since he is decided on putting some weight on his piggy bank."

"You didn't buy anything for yourself on Christmas." Ryoma said when they entered the place. "I wish I could give you something."

"Don't worry, there's nothing I need or want right now." she removed her jacket and her hat and put it on the sofa. The girl looked around at the boxes and she was a little sad. "This is the last time I will sleep here. It's bittersweet."

Ryoma hugged her from behind, his chin on the top of her hair.

"A lot of things happened here, right?"

"Yes. It's filled with happy memories." She turned around inside his embrace and smiled. "It was the place I fell in love with you."

The boy caressed her face gently, before kissing her. Those would be the last kisses they would share on that old temple and his heart was tight.

They stopped kissing and Echizen hugged her even tighter.

"We still didn't talk on how things between us are going to be after you're gone."

"Ah, that's right."

They sat on the sofa together and she touched his hand.

"Actually, I have to apologize to you." She looked at him worried. "Since Christmas, because of the moving, we didn't have much time for ourselves."

"Hey, it's okay." His other hand covered his. "You're busy."

"It's going to be harder for us to spend time together after I move out, since I will be adapting to the new place with Shinji. We're also going to have school right away and I need to help Shinji on his entrance exams for Seigaku." She touched his face and the scarlet eyes were so caring. "But, I will message you every day and we can spend time together at school too."

"Okay."

She leaned her forehead on his and looked straight at him.

"I know I didn't say it before, but…I love you too." She blushed a little. "I really love you, Ryoma."

His heart was warmed with her words and he kissed her, gently and softly, while the sunlight of the new day was entering on the old temple and shining over them.


	48. Chapter 48

Ryoma woke up and sat down on his bed. He took a deep breath after rubbing his hair a little, trying to dissipate his sleep. It was the first day of school after winter break. It was also the first day he would see his girlfriend since she moved out.

Sakuno was keeping her promise and she would send him messages every day. She also sent him pictures of their new home and told him how happy Shinji was on the apartment. He had offered help to set things on the moving day, but she gently refused, saying those steps should be taken by her and her brother, to start their new life.

Since his parents and Shinji were around, they couldn't even share a kiss or a hug before they left and his heart was terribly tight after seeing the empty temple.

He missed her so much. It was the first time in his entire life he was anxious about returning to school.

#######

Sakuno looked at the list of names and classes at the school wall and felt a little disappointed. She had arrived earlier since their new place was a little farther from Seigaku and Shinji's school and there were few people on the building.

"We're on different classes, hm?" Ryoma's voice called her attention and she looked at him surprised. Her boyfriend was standing by her side. "Good morning." He showed her a small smile.

"Ryoma!" she smiled happily. "You came early."

"Well, you sent me a message saying you would be early yourself, so… I wanted to talk to you a little before classes started."

Since the morning was cold, they went to sit on the bleachers inside the stadium.

"Thank you for coming early to spend time with me." She said gently.

"Don't mention it. I really wanted to see you. So, how's your new place? Are you and Shinji enjoying it?"

"Yes! Things are great there. Shinji likes it a lot. But, he misses you. I know it's sudden, but we were able to organize everything last night, so would you like to have dinner with us? We can buy something on the way to pick up Shinji."

"I want to go." The golden eyes were so kind. "I will tell my parents about it."

"Ah, I also brought lunch for you. Shinji helped me make it, it's hamburger and salad. Can we eat together on break time?"

"It sounds great. Thank you." He showed her a small smile.

############

"Ryoma-nii!" Shinji came running towards Ryoma when seeing him and his sister near the school. He hugged the teenager tightly with a big smile on his face. "It's been a while! Are you okay?!"

"Wow, Shinji!" he touched the boy's red hair and messed it up a little. "You've grown up!"

"You think?! Really?!"

"Yeah, you're huge." He looked at his girlfriend. "You will need to buy him a bigger bed soon."

Sakuno giggled.

"You went to the supermarket." He pointed the bag on Ryoma's hand.

"Ryoma is having dinner with us." Sakuno asked.

"That's great!"

The boy grinned happily before holding his sister's and Echizen's free hand.

##############

"Sorry for the intrusion." Ryoma said, politely while taking his shoes off. The siblings entered in front of him.

"Welcome, Ryoma-nii!" Shinji said, happily.

"It's really different with the furniture." He said, looking around.

"Adachi-san organized things and hired a decorator." Sakuno said. "She said we needed proper things."

"It's very nice."

The furniture was made of dark wood and it was a good contrast with the white painting.

The kitchen was a opened space with the a simple counter top. There was a dinning table near and a black sofa with a new tv in on the wall. The balcony was closed because of the cold wind, but Sakuno had put light curtains there.

"When the weather gets better, we are going to plant some flowers on the balcony." She said, already in the kitchen while Ryoma looked around. "And some fresh herbs as well."

"It's a good ideia."

"Ryoma-nii, come and see my room!" he pulled the teen by his hand.

"Yes, yes."

Shinji pushed the sliding door and grinned at Ryoma. His room also had dark wood furniture but the colors were a mix of blue and white. There was his bed and a lot of shelves for his toys and a small desk for him to study.

"It's very nice, Shinji."

"Nee-chan said that we can have a videogame on the tv soon. Would you come to play with me?"

"Of course." The golden eyes were gentle. "I'm glad you guys are settled properly."

"I made a new friend as well. His name is Kei-kun, he lives on the 4th floor. His mother is very nice. We play with the snow downstairs sometimes."

"That sounds good. What about the entrance exame for Seigaku. Are you really doing it?

"Yes! And they also have a good swimming program there."

"Are you continuing to swim there?"

"Of course. I told you before, Ryoma-nii, I'm going to be a professional and I will take care of Nee-chan."

"Shinji, I know we are not living near anymore, but, if you or Sakuno ever need anything, you can call me, okay?" he kneeled in front of the little boy and touched his shoulders. "I'm still here for you guys."

"Thank you, Ryoma-nii." Shinji smiled and hugged him tightly.

"You're welcome." Ryoma hugged him back.

############

"You two are in different classes now?!" Shinji said, surprised. They were having dinner already. Sakuno had prepared spaghetti with meatballs for them.

"Well, it happens sometimes. It's not a big deal." His sister smiled.

"But, Nee-chan, aren't you lonely not being able to study with Ryoma-nii?" he was worried. "You were so excited for finally seeing him today; you spent a lot of time in front of the mirror, so…

"Shinji!" his sister blushed and Ryoma chuckled.

"It's okay. We can always see each other before and after classes and we have lunch together. By the way, thank you for lunch today. It was great."

"Really? I'm going to practice more dishes with Nee-chan and next time you come, I will be the one preparing dinner!"

"I'm looking forward to it." Echizen said.

##############

"He's out." Sakuno said, returning from her brother's room. "Thank you for playing videogames with him after dinner. Sometimes I feel so useless on that kind of thing."

"Don't mention it." He said gently. Ryoma was on the kitchen, finishing drying the dishes. "So… is it true you were excited about seeing me today?"

Sakuno blushed again and averted her eyes a little.

"Isn't… isn't normal? Since we didn't see each other for a long time, I was really missing you and…"

Her rushed words stopped when her boyfriend hugged her.

"It's okay. I've missed you too."

Ryuzaki looked at him and caressed his handsome face.

"I'm a little bit lonely without you in class." The scarlet eyes were so gentle.

"I'm too." He said, before kissing her.

They kissed slowly and deeply for a long time. Sakuno's fingers were on his hair and Ryoma held her tightly. It seemed like forever the last time he was able to feel her so close. His heart was already racing when their mouths finally separated and his girlfriend looked at him shyly.

"My birthday is coming soon."

"I know. January 14th. It's going to be a school day, right?"

"Yes, but, I want to go on a date with you this Saturday or Sunday, if it's okay with you."

"Really?"

"Yes." Even though the redness on her cheeks intensified, she had no hesitance on her expression. "And… maybe… would you… like to spend the night?"

The golden eyes were wide in surprise and Sakuno got even more embarrassed.

"I just… didn't want you to think I forgot about it or I'm not interested anymore." Her hands were on his chest and the way she looked at him was so sweet and honest. "Now I have my own bed and my own home."

He hugged her again and Sakuno couldn't see the small smile on his features and she was the one who was surprised.

"Thank you, Sakuno." He looked at her and cupped her face with a serious expression. "I'm going to take you to an incredibly birthday date. It's going to be perfect, I promise you."

"You don't have to worry about such a thing. Just being with you, Ryoma, it's already perfect."

His heart was extremely tight with her words and he hugged her again.

"Sakuno, stop being so cute, I beg you. My heart can't take it."

She was surprised for a moment, before she giggled inside his embrace, resting her cheek against his pounding heart.

"Thank you for coming, Ryoma."

"Hm." He said, before kissing her forehead.


	49. Chapter 49

"You guys did it?!" Ann said, happily. Sakuno had invited her to have a snack after school, before Sakuno would pick Shinji up at the swimming lesson. It was Tuesday. They were on a snack bar near, sitting on a more private table. She was about to take a bite on her sandwich when Sakuno told her about the reason she wanted to talk.

"Ann-chan!" Sakuno blushed profusely with her friend's reaction and Tachibana noticed how much she had raised her voice.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she whispered. "But, you shouldn't be embarrassed about it. You wanted to do it too, right?"

"Yes, but… things didn't end up well." There was a small sadness on her face.

"What do you mean?" Ann asked, worried. "Was it bad?"

"Not at all. Ryoma was very sweet, even when…" she couldn't find the words.

"What happened?"

"We couldn't do it all the way." She lowered her face and the red bangs were in front of her eyes. "It really hurt, I panicked and started crying. Ryoma got so worried but I was so embarrassed, I didn't want him around and I sent him away."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." The dark blue eyes were gentle. "But you guys seemed close on New Year's, so you probably worked things out, right?"

"Yes." She looked at her friend with a small smile. "I worried he would break up with me, but he was extremely kind."

"That's good, then. He should act like this, after all, you trusted him with someone very important."

"I invited him to spend the night this weekend, since my birthday it's going to happen on a school day, so… do you have any advice for me?" even though there was a slight flush on her cheeks, she looked at Ann seriously. "I really want to share this with Ryoma properly."

Her friend smiled and touched her hand.

"You really love him, right, Sakuno-chan?"

"Yes." She answered seriously.

"Then it's going to be okay. If you decide to take such a serious step with him, even after what happened, your heart and mind are already settled." she smiled kindly. "You will know what to do. Don't worry."

#############

Nanjirouh opened the door of his home and there was a big smile on his face. It was Saturday night.

"Ah, Ryuzaki-san! It's been a while!"

"Good evening, Echizen-san." She made a polite reverence. There was a small bag on her hands.

"You came to see the kid, right? He's on his room, resting. Come in."

"Is his fever better?" she asked, worried, before entering and removing her shoes. Ryoma caught the flu on Thursday and on Friday he was feeling too weak to go to school. They were communicating by text messages.

"Yes, he was even able to eat a little on lunch time. He's taking his medicine properly, so he should be better by Monday."

"Ah, that's a relief."

"Is strange not to see you with Shinji-kun around. Is he okay?"

"He stayed with the neighbors today. I will pick him up when I return home. He's doing just fine, thank you for asking." She looked at him shyly before showing the bag to him. There was a thermal flask inside. "I brought some vegetable soup to Ryoma, is that okay?"

"Sure! His mother is out the entire weekend doing some shooting, so he's stuck with me. Rinko left some food on the fridge, but I'm sure he will feel livelier with his girlfriend preparing him something." He said, gently, before picking up the bag. "You can go see him, I'm sure he will be happy."

"Thank you." She smiled before going to his room.

Ryoma's bedroom door was opened and he was sleeping on his bed, under the covers, wearing light green striped pajamas. There was an ice pad on his forehead and his cheeks were a little red. He opened his eyes slowly when feeling Sakuno's fingertips softly petting his hair and looked at him. She was by his side.

"Sakuno?"

"Hello, Ryoma." She smiled at him.

"What are you doing here?" his voice was a little hoarse.

"I was worried about you." She touched his face. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been ran over." He sniffled. "I also feel like an idiot, getting sick on a time like this." The golden eyes were sad. "I'm sorry. Even though I promised I would take you to a perfect date, I ended up stuck in bed. I'm very sorry."

"What are you talking about?" she smiled kindly. "It was not your fault, don't worry."

"But…"

"Do you remember what I told you?" she held his hand. "No matter where we are, just being with you, it's already perfect. The important thing is for you to rest and recover your health, okay?"

"Thank you, Sakuno." He laid on his side and touched her face.

"We will have plenty of opportunities to have perfect dates."

He looked at her for a moment, before hiding his face on the pillow, feeling extremely frustrated.

"Stupid body."

"Ryoma?" she was confused.

"I really wanted to kiss you right now."

The golden eyes were wide in surprise when feeling the weight of Sakuno's head on his torso.

"What are you doing?"

"We cannot kiss now but I can hug you. Well, sort of it."

He chuckled. His girlfriend was so cute. Ryoma laid on his back again and caressed her hair.

"You will be 18 soon."

"Yes." She smiled.

"Do you feel like an adult yet? Having your own place and such."

"Not at all!" she giggled. "I think it will take me a long time to feel like that. But, I feel very happy because I have you by my side, Ryoma. You really make me feel at ease, not only about our relationship, but, about many other things as well. You're always supporting me and encouraging me." Her voice was so sweet. "I don't even know that it's possible, but, I feel like I'm more and more in love with you."

His heart was warmed by her words and it took him a while to be able to talk again.

"You know, Sakuno, I… I've been thinking about something for a while and I really wanted to talk to you about it."

She sat down and looked at him.

"What is it?"

"What do you think of me moving in with you guys after high school graduation? I can get a job to help with the bills so you can concentrate only on med school. I also can take care of things in the house, so..."

"No." Her voice was serious. "I don't want such a thing."

"Sakuno?" he sat down, worried.

"Ryoma, I don't want you to ever worry about the things I have to. You have the exact type of life I wish I could have and that I work so hard for Shinji as well. It's not okay for someone our age to be preoccupied about jobs and budget. Your parents are amazing and they love you so much, it wouldn't be fair to them as well. If you have the opportunity of going to college without any other worries you must take it."

"I see." He seemed so sad.

"Ah!" she blushed profusely and her words were rushed. "Do not think I'm rejecting you or anything like that, please!"

Ryoma's hand covered hers and his face was very close.

"Really?" the golden eyes investigated her expression. "Would you like to live together in the future?"

Her heart beat like crazy with the way he looked at her.

"I…I…" she averted her face. "Don't say such a thing! It sounds like a proposal and my heart can't take it!"

It was like a light was lit on his brain.

"It's a good idea."

"Eh?"

"Would it be so bad if it was?" he investigated her flushed face and there was a small smile on his features. "A proposal."

"It's the fever talking!" she smiled nervously. "It's better for me to leave and let you rest, so…"

She stood up but Ryoma held her wrist, making her stay. When she turned around to see him, he noticed the scarlet eyes were glistering with tears.

"I'm sorry." She put a hand in front of her eyes. "This conversation took such a serious route; my heart isn't prepared for it. I came to bring you soup and we ended up talking about living together and such, I…"

"You brought me soup?"

"Yes! It's downstairs with your father."

"Thank you."

Ryoma smiled at her, trying to put her at ease with the change of subject. Gently he brought her to sit by his side again.

"What kind of soup?"

"Vegetable soup. I know it's your favorite."

"Thank you, Sakuno."

He leaned his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes.

"You know, Sakuno, most of people don't stay with their first love. Actually, there's a saying about first loves never last. On that day at the temple, I was just grateful that I was able to meet you and you're the one I fell in love for the first time."

"Ryoma…"

"I know you're very capable and strong and I still have a lot to learn about life, but I want to be by your side and lend some of my strength to you as well. I'm not just saying it." He looked at her gently." I will do my best to be an adult that can be reliable to you."

Sakuno hugged him tightly, fighting back happy tears after such serious words. Her heart was about to burst. She looked at her boyfriend and was almost kissing him, when he whispered.

"You might get sick."

"I won't." she replied, before her lips covered his.


	50. Chapter 50

"It looks great, Sakuno." Ryoma showed his girlfriend a small smile when she placed their dinner on the table. It was April already and the city was filled with sakura petals. On the beginning of the week Shinji had his entrance ceremony at Seigaku. After studying hard for a couple of months, the little boy was approved. He was very excited on his first day at school and even more after being accepted on the swimming club.

Sakuno and Ryoma would wait for him at the library, while they studied together. School was the only time the young couple had for themselves on the last months, since Ryuzaki started to study for the mocking exams of Toudai as well. Her weekends were filled with books and exercises until late at night.

The last break she had for real was on her birthday. Ryoma organized a small birthday party with pizza and called Momoshiro and Ann. Shinji paid the birthday cake with part of his piggy bank and it was a very enjoyable evening at the Ryuzaki's place.

It was Saturday night and Sakuno invited her boyfriend to dinner. It was also Shinji's sleepover at the neighbors. She had prepared sukiyaki, with beautiful green leaves, pieces of firm tofu, fresh mushrooms, thin sliced beef and beef stock that had an incredible smell.

They started to eat and Sakuno took discreet and anxious glances at her boyfriend. She could feel her heart beating fast. Before he arrived, she organized her room neatly and took a long bath with some bath products he had given her on her birthday. They were all sweet scented because he knew how she liked that kind of smell.

Sakuno observed him eating and noticed how beautiful his hands were as well, with the long fingers and slow movements. She was really conscious over everything about him. The girl remembered the last time his hands touched her body and she blushed entirely.

"Sakuno, are you all right?" he asked, stopping to eat, noticing how stiff her body was. "Your face is red, is the food too hot?"

"Not… not at all!" she smiled nervously. "So, how is it? Did you like it?"

"Yes, it's amazing. Thank you, Sakuno." He smiled gently. "And thank you for taking your time to invite me. I know you've been very busy."

"Do not thank me." She put her plate down and looked at him seriously. "I really miss you. Even if you say I don't have to apologize for my schedule, I want you to know I don't take you for granted." She lowered her head. "I really wish I could have fewer responsibilities. I really hope you don't regret for being with someone with such busy life."

Ryoma came closer and hugged her tightly, surprising her.

"What are you saying? My feelings for you do not depend on such a thing. Even being so busy, you're always spending time with me whenever you can. I really appreciate it."

"Really?" she looked at him worried.

"Yes." He showed her a small smile. "Let's finish eating? Otherwise it will get cold."

"Okay." She smiled.

They finished dinner while talking about different topics. Ryoma washed the dishes while she organized things in the kitchen. It was just like before, when she still lived on the temple. They went to the sofa and started to watch a movie. Sakuno was nervous again. She had mentally prepared herself for that moment a long time ago, but her boyfriend didn't even kiss her properly since he arrived. There was supposed to have a mood for those things, right?!

She touched his hand, calling his attention.

"What's it?" he asked, gently.

"I want to kiss." She whispered a slight blush on her cheeks and Ryoma chuckled. "Do not laugh!"

"I'm not laughing at you." His thumb brushed her face slowly. "It's just… soon it's going to be out first anniversary, I just remembered when we started to date." His face was close and the golden eyes looked deeply at the red ones. "You used to say such a thing back then."

His mouth touched hers and Sakuno's heart skipped a beat. They were slow and gentle at first, but then Echizen hugged her, bringing her body to his and the kisses were possessive and serious. Sakuno was melting against those deep kisses. She hugged him back and her breasts were pressed on his chest. Having his beautiful, perfect girlfriend responding was too much and the teen felt his blood rushing. Since the last time she invited him over and he got sick, she never talked about it again, so he had no right on bringing up the topic. Ryoma used all his strength to break the kiss and was not able to look at her properly.

"Hey, Sakuno, it's late. I think it's best if we call it the night and I head home." he was about to stand up when his girlfriend's grip on his hand made him stop.

"Stay." She said seriously, even thought she was really embarrassed. "Spend the night, Ryoma. Please."

"Eh?!"

"I know it's been a long time and you're probably not interest anymore, but… I want you to be with me tonight and…"

Her words were interrupted when Ryoma cupped her face and kissed her seriously, making her still. It took him a while to let her breathe again and his forehead was on her shoulder.

"Stop being so cute, Sakuno. You're really going to kill me someday."

She was surprised for a moment, before giggling. His hands touched hers and he looked at her seriously.

"Are you sure?" he seemed a little shy. "Can we really do it?"

"Yes." She whispered, before kissing him again.

#############

Nanjirouh was watching tv on the living room, laying on the sofa, when his cellphone started to ring. He looked at Ryoma's name on the screen before picking up.

"Yo, kid. What's up?"

"Tou-san…" his voice was serious. "I…I'm not going back home tonight. I'll be back in the morning."

"Ah, really?" he sat down. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. It's just…" he had no words to explain and he worried about all the jokes his father would do on his expense. Nanjirouh knew Ryoma was on his girlfriend's place.

"All right. I will let your mom know." Nanjirouh responded gently and it surprised him. "Just be responsible. Don't do anything that makes you regret later."

"I won't Tou-san. I promise."

"Good boy. See you tomorrow." He smiled to himself after turning the call off.

Rinko appeared on the living room and smiled at him.

"Who was it?"

"Ryoma. He's spending the night out. He said he will be home in the morning."

"Is that so?" she sat by his side and leaned her head on his shoulder, watching the tv. "Where's he again? At Momo-chan's?"

"Yes." He kissed his forehead before hugging her by her shoulders.

##############

Ryoma waited patiently inside Sakuno's room, sitting on her bed. His girlfriend asked him some time to change clothes. He took a deep breath, before looking at the landscape from the windows. It was a beautiful spring night, with clear skies and a brilliant full moon.

The door opened and closed, calling his attention. Sakuno was in front of it with a long sleeved pajama. It was light blue with some faint dark blue stripes on it.

"I'm sorry I don't have cute outfits." She blushed.

"Nonsense. You're perfect." He patted on the bed, calling her close. The girl sat in front of him, holding her own hands tightly while looking down.

"Are you afraid?" his voice was so sweet. She moved her head negatively.

"I'm just... nervous. I feel like my heart's going to drop from my chest any minute now."

"If your heart falls, I will catch it." He looked at her, his eyes filled with care. "Not only your heart, but your body as well. I will always treat all of you preciously, Sakuno. You have my word."

"Ryoma…" she was so touched.

He picked up one of her hands and put it over his chest, showing her a gentle smile.

"I'm entrusting myself to you. Take good care of me too."

She could feel her eyes filling up with emotional tears. Sakuno kissed him, giving him permission and being absolutely sure she loved her boyfriend with all her heart.


	51. Chapter 51

Ryoma woke up slowly. He smiled to himself, seeing his girlfriend asleep peacefully by his side. He always thought that Sakuno was the most beautiful girl in the whole world, but now, seeing her so close after what happened, his heart was completely struck again.

They were naked under the covers and he could feel the warmth of her body. He remembered how happy he was finally being able to touch her properly with his fingers and kisses all over her skin. Sakuno's body was perfect and he had to restrain himself a lot for not acting like a pervert. He blushed a little, the memories of her low sighs and reactions returning to his mind.

Even though she was nervous, she accepted all of his touches and kissed him many times pushing away his apprehensiveness as well. At one point, in the midst of deep teenage love, Ryoma felt truly overwhelmed with the trust and love inside the scarlet eyes while she looked at him. Her hands swept his sweaty bangs and caressed his flushed face, before she smiled shyly and brought him close to a sweet kiss. He was sure he would remember that night for the rest of his life.

Echizen looked at the alarm clock near; it was almost 8:30 a.m. He caressed Sakuno's hair before placing a kiss on her forehead and his girlfriend woke up.

"Good morning." He showed her a small smile and she blushed a little.

"Good morning, Ryoma." She said gently.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"That's good." He placed a small kiss on her lips. "Sorry to wake you up, but, it's better for me to go, right? Shinji is probably arriving soon."

"He's only coming back after lunch time." The scarlet eyes were shy. "You can stay a little longer if you want to."

"Is that so?" Sakuno noticed the discreet smirk before he pulled her even closer, hugging her. Her forehead against his chest and their bodies were touching again.

"When do you have to return home?"

"I told my dad I would be back in the morning."

"I see." Her palm was over his heart. "This will be our last year at Seigaku."

"Yeah." He caressed her hair. "Your plan about having a family practice, do you still want to do that?"

"Yes." She smiled happily.

"How long do you think you can achieve such a thing?"

"Well, med school takes six years and two more years to improve my skills on the area I want to work with. At least one year more until I can put a practice together, even it's a small one."

"Almost 10 years, then, right? It sure will be a lot of work." He looked at her. "But I have no doubts you're gonna make it."

"Thank you, Ryoma." She smiled, before hugging him even tighter. "What about you? We're going to receive our future plans' applications soon. What do you want to do?"

"I've been thinking a lot on those past months about it." He caressed her face. "What do you think I help you out with your clinic?"

"Eh?!" she sat down suddenly, her long hair over her breasts and flat belly. She was so surprised she didn't even notice she was naked in front of him. "Are you going to try med school as well?!"

He chuckled and sat down too, the covers on his waist.

"There's no way I could do that. I'm not as smart as you."

"What do you mean, then?" she was confused.

"Business school. That way I can help you run the clinic, dealing with the administrative stuff. What do you think?"

She had no words.

"I've never had any dreams, Sakuno. But, meeting you and seeing you so focused about yours, I want to be part of your dream as well, since it's such a good one. My course will not be as long as yours, but in the meantime, I will work hard so I can gain experience and help you properly. What do you think?" he smiled. "I promise I will do my very best."

Sakuno felt her heart clench with his words. Was it really okay to be that loved by someone? To be treated so preciously? She cupped her boyfriend's face and looked deep inside the golden eyes.

"Are you sure? Do you really want to do such a thing for me?"

"Yes." He smiled. "I've told you before. I want to share my future with you. I love you, Sakuno."

She kissed her boyfriend deeply, pushing his body to bed again. Ryoma hugged her as well, his hand on her bare back. She looked at him with a beautiful smile and caressed his face.

"I love you too."

###########

The tall teenager wearing the Seigaku's swimming club jersey stopped in front of a small white house. He was at Yokohama. The gentle summer wind on that afternoon that was ending moved his short red hair a little while he got close to the front door. He took a deep breath before knocking on it.

"Yes?" the beautiful middle-aged woman opened with a smile that soon was replaced for a surprised expression.

"Hello, Kaa-san." Shinji said seriously. "It's been a while."

Shinji looked around his mother's place while she was at the kitchen bringing him something to drink. Althought the house was small, it was very well organizaded and nicely decorated in Japanese traditional style. He was sitting on the floor, waiting for her on a short table. It took her a while to return, with a jar of iced tea and two glass cups.

"I'm sorry for the wait." She said, with a nervous smile. "Do you like peach iced tea?"

"It's okay." He said calmly while she poured him the dark liquid. "Thank you."

Shinji observed when Sanae drank the tea in one big gulp, before looking at him again.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little nervous."

"It's okay, I understand. Forgive me for coming out of the blue. I'm on a tournament in the city, I arrive this morning and I will leave two days from now. Nee-chan told me about where you lived some years ago, I just took a chance. I can go if it's bothering you."

"No, please." she had a kind look on her face. "You're so tall and strong. What kind of tournament are you in?"

"I'm the captain of Seigaku's swimming club. We're here for one of the Nationals' rounds."

"Is that so? It sounds nice. Swimming, right? It explains why your shoulders are so broad." She smiled. He was very handsome. "You're 17 now, right?"

"Yes. Nee-chan is 27."

"It has been so long. You're almost an adult."

"I was certain you wouldn't recognize me anymore. I was surprised when you did."

"Of course I did. Even though I don't deserve to be called mother, I'm still the one who gave birth to you." She smiled sadly and looked down. The boy noticed she was holding the cup tightly inside her hands. "I'm sure Sakuno had told you many bad things about me, so I can only imagine you came to yell at me after all these years."

"Not at all. Nee-chan never said anything of the sort. She holds no grudges. Actually, she still keeps an old photo of us together. A few years ago she told me you were the one who helped her to adopt me for good. That was the best thing you could have done as a parent, so I came to say thank you."

"You don't have to thank me for it." She looked at him seriously. "Even though I was inept to take care of you and your sister, I wanted you guys to be happy and that would only happen if you were away from me." She lowered her head. "I'm very sorry for the hardships I imposed on you two."

"It's okay. We're happy. Nee-chan graduated first on her Seigaku's high school class and also on the medical school at Toudai."

"She graduated on Toudai?!" she looked at him surprised. "Sakuno is a doctor now?!"

"Yes." He finally smiled. "She opened a family practice and we live on the house next door, business has been very good. She's a workaholic, so Ryoma-nii is always keeping an eye on her so she won't exhaust herself. They still didn't have a proper honeymoon."

"Ryoma-nii?"

"Nee-chan's husband. They got married as soon as she graduated from college. He's an awesome person and he loves her very much."

"Really? It sounds great."

"Our home is good. I couldn't ask for a better life."

"I'm very glad to hear that, Shinji."

His cellphone vibrated on his pocket and he was surprised.

"Ah, I'm sorry." He picked up and looked at the screen for a moment. "It's my coach. I need to go back to the hotel."

"It's okay. I will walk you out."

"What about you, Kaa-san?" he asked when they were at the door. "Are you well?"

She was surprised by his preoccupation.

"I'm okay. I got married again and we're fine. We have a small restaurant on the pier."

"Does he know about us?"

"He does. He wanted to meet you guys and said he would help me to be in touch, but I told him I had no right to do it." She smiled sadly.

"You know, I'm working my way through a scholarship abroad. So, if things end up well, I'm probably going to study in another country on my last year of high school."

"Is that so?"

"Hm." He was a little shy. "I'm really working hard on it."

"It sounds great, Shinji. I hope you can make it."

"Thank you, Kaa-san." The green eyes were serious. "I don't think we're going to see each other again, then. So, this is probably a goodbye."

"I understand." He noticed the tears building up on the scarlet eyes. "Thank you so much for coming. I'm glad to know you and Sakuno turned out fine."

Shinji looked at the orange landscape surrounding him, while he walked away from his mother's home. It was beautiful. He felt his chest extremely peaceful, being sure that looking for Sanae and getting that closure was a very important step.

His thoughts were interrupted when his cell phone started to ring. He smiled to himself when looking at the caller before picking it up.

It was Sakuno wanting to check out if he was okay.


	52. Chapter 52

"Here we go." Sakuno finished to sign the prescription and gave it to the young mother with a small little girl and a heavy 7 month belly. She showed the medication to her gently. "These are your vitamins, continue to take them for the next month and, after they finished, return so we can have another blood check up, okay? You can pick them up at the pharmacy on your way out."

"Thank you so much, Ryuzaki-sensei." She made a reverence.

"Is Mama and my little brother okay?" the girl asked, worried.

"Yes, they're just fine." Ryuzaki smiled gently. "Are you excited about becoming a big sister?"

"Yes!" she grinned happily.

Sakuno watched them leave the room for a moment before stretching herself on her chair. It was almost night and she had been on consultations since early in the morning. Saturdays was her busiest day. She turned to computer on her desk and started to type information about that last patient. She was almost finishing when she felt the familiar hands massaging her shoulders gently. She smiled and closed her eyes.

"That's good."

Ryoma placed a kiss on her cheek.

"You're all cramped. You didn't stop since lunch time. "

"I'm fine." She turned around and smiled at him.

"I'll close the clinic; you can go and prepare a bath for you. I will order some food."

"Okay." she caressed his hair.

############

Sakuno removed her shoes on the entrance. Their home was right beside the Ryuzaki Family Clinic. After she finished college, Ryoma totally caught her by surprise proposing on the same night of her graduation. First she was extremely shocked and then, once again, her boyfriend made her eyes fill up with happy, overwhelmed tears. There was nothing to wait anymore and she knew that, by his side, all of her dreams would come true.

Shinji hugged them tightly when seeing the engagement right and said "It was about time!" happily. Their wedding ceremony was small and very sweet on the temple at the Echizens' place, with Ryoma's parents and Momoshiro and Ann that were already married as well. Jun had sent them a congratulations card and some money as present. They continued to send news to each other even though the siblings still didn't have any relationship with their father.

Sakuno worked on the university's hospital while Ryoma was hired on the office he had his internship during business school. Even though it was never asked, Shinji also got a part time when he was 15 and started to help with the daily bills as well along with the helping at the clinic. He had a very determinate look on his face, saying it was time for him to be more useful and he promised it would not interfere with school.

They sold the apartment and bought their new home and the house next door and with some funding from the Health Department, they were able to open the clinic. Their house had two suites, kitchen, dining room together with a living room and, Sakuno's favorite, a large back garden when they would have their traditional barbecue on summer and she could continue to grown flowers and vegetables.

The teenager worked on a mini market 3 times a week at night and had some shifts on weekends too when he was not on swimming competitions.

Sakuno stopped on the door of Shinji's bedroom for a moment. There was a lot of medals and trophies on a shelf and different pictures of her brother on the podium alone or with his teammates at Seigaku. She looked at the empty room and took a deep breath before continuing towards her bedroom.

When Ryoma arrived home, his wife was already inside the tub, filled with bubbles and he looked at her gently. Sakuno had her eyes closed, leaning in the tub, her hair was tight on a bun. She smiled when felt the change on the water after he came inside the tub. Ryoma touched her feet, massasing it.

"Good work today, Ryuzaki-sensei." He had a small smile on his face.

"Thank you." She said, after opening her eyes.

"Are you excited for our honeymoon?"

"Yes!" she smiled happily. "Although I'm still feeling a little guilty for closing the clinic for two weeks."

"You deserve a break. You never took some time for yourself since the clinic opened."

"I'm sorry." She came closer and cupped his face. "You never had the same as well."

He kissed her palm before looking kindly at her.

"Spending every day with you while helping people is the best job ever." He lean forward and kissed his wife.

Sakuno's arms were around his shoulders and her naked and wet chest was glued to his. Ryoma's hands brought her close by her waist and the kisses became deeper.

"Ryoma… wait…" she blushed a little. Even after so many years together, he found extremely adorable how she was still a little shy on those private moments.

"Why?" he was kissing her neck. "It's been a while, right?"

"Yes, but…" her husband kisses were on her collarbone now and she trembled. "We still… have to finish our luggage."

"Ah, that's right." He had really forgotten.

His wife placed a small kiss on his mouth, before whispering on his jaw line.

"We can continue after we finish with the bags. We're officially on our honeymoon after all."

Ryoma chuckled and caressed her blushing face, before kissing her again.

"Okay."

###########

The 18 year old teenager was taking a warm shower on the locker room. He had just finished his last practice of the day. His head was down thinking about his time. Shinji was a medley swimmer, so he had to use all the styles properly and flawless to the best result. It has been 6 months since he moved to Sydney on a special scholarship and his days were divided between school, the gym and practice. It was a tight schedule and he had hardly had any time to himself, since he needed to keep his grades and results at swimming sharp to kept on the program.

Even thought his sister was incredibly happy and proud for him, she couldn't keep herself from crying seriously on the day of his trip. He hugged him extremely tight on the airport. He had never seen his sister crying so much. Sakuno cupped his face and wished him a safe trip, smiling between his tears. He missed them a lot, his whole life was around them and the first months were really lonely, but he always remembered how hard Sakuno had work for him to have such opportunities, so he was always doing his best.

"Hey, Ryuzaki." Another teen came and called him from the door. "There are a couple here waiting for you on the entrance hall."

Shinji smile was wide.

"Yes!"

Shinji dried himself and put on his clothes quickly. He ran down the hallways in full speed and his green eyes sparkled when seeing his sister and Ryoma.

"Nee-chan!" he shouted and Sakuno turned around happily. Before she could say anything, he hugged her tightly. His sister could feel the fast heartbeats and after a minute of surprised, she hugged him back. He was much taller than herself and even Ryoma, being 1.90m.

"Shinji." She said, gently. "I've missed you."

Ryoma just smiled at the siblings.

############

They were on the hotel room Ryoma and Sakuno had gotten for their honeymoon. They had order pizza and were eating on the big bed while talking.

"Your English is so good, Shinji!" Sakuno said. "You were able to talk to everyone while we struggle."

"Are you having complementary lessons in school still?" Ryoma asked before taking a bite of his slice.

"Hm!" Shinji responded after swallowing his pizza. "I have English classes after the regular ones at school three times a week."

"How about the competition this weekend? Are you ready for it?"

There was a cocky smile on his face before showing him his powerful biceps.

"100 percent! I'm aiming to beat my own record."

"Aside from swimming, are you taking good care of yourself?" Sakuno asked. "Are you eating and sleeping properly? Do not push your body too far."

"Don't worry, Nee-chan, there's a nutritionist on the school that makes our meal plants. I'm not even supposed to eat this pizza now, actually." He ate another slice. "We have health checkups every month too."

"Ah, that's good." She was relieved.

"I'm taking good care of my body. Next month they're going to have the try outs for the Olympics. The results are going to be out in February.

"You're really aiming for that?" Ryoma was surprised.

"Of course!"

"So, this mean you're not coming back home after graduating high school?" Sakuno asked, worried. Before Shinji left, according to the Australian school year, he would start high school in late January and finish before Christmas.

"I was waiting you guys to come so we could talk properly about it." He looked at them seriously. "I know that me being here is giving you a lot of extra work with the clinic, so I understand how selfish it is for me to ask such a thing, but… I really want to stay and try this out. If I'm able to improve my time and win my competitions, the school will extend my scholarship so I can compete." He made a reverence to both of them. "Please, Nee-chan, Ryoma-nii, let me do it."

The adults looked at each other silently for a moment. The golden eyes were gentle over the scarlet eyes. Ryoma knew how hard it was for Sakuno to be apart from her little brother. He touched his wife's hand and squeezed it a little for a moment. Sakuno took a deep breath, before smiling at her brother.

"Of course, Shinji."

The teen looked at them surprised.

"You're working so hard for your dream. How can we say no? I'm nothing but proud of you and we're always going to support you, no matter what."

"Nee-chan, Ryoma-nii…" he was very touched.

"You're going to be amazing on whatever you decide to do, Shinji." Ryoma said. "We have no doubts."

He grinned happily before hugging them both.

"Thank you. Thank you so much!"

They continued to talk until late at night and they laid on the bed together to watch a movie. Just half an hour later, Sakuno was asleep in the middle of them.

"She's sleeping like a rock." Shinji said with a smile.

"She's tired. Before the flight, she worked for the whole day. She was not able to rest properly, she was anxious about seeing you."

"You seem tired too, Ryoma-nii. I'm sorry I'm giving you guys trouble with one less helper at the clinic."

"That's okay." He said, kindly. "When Sakuno and I were dating, I told her I wanted to lend her my strength to support her dream." He caressed his wife's hair gently. "I want to do the same for you. You're my little brother after all."

"Ryoma-nii, you've always been so cool."

He chuckled.

"Not at all."

"Do you think she will be able to slow down a bit in a near future? So you guys can have your own family and such?"

Ryoma took a deep breath and showed him a small smile.

"I really don't know, Shinji. Your sister had always had her own time. I'd be happy whenever she thinks about having kids. But, we already have a family, the three of us. You may be far away, but we're always family."

The teenager smiled happily and Ryoma could always see how much his smile was similar to Sakuno's.

"Do you have practice tomorrow morning?"

"No, only on the afternoon."

"Why don't you sleep here tonight? It's late already. The bed is big enough for the three of us. It's going to be nice for all of us have breakfast in the morning."

"Ryoma-nii?"

"Yes?" he was getting sleepy too.

"Thank you so much, for taking such good care of Nee-chan. I'm really grateful."

"My pleasure." He said, closing his eyes. "Go to sleep now, kid. It's past your bed time."

Shinji smiled, feeling extremely happy, before falling asleep as well.

 **THE END.**

 **Author's note: Thank you so much for everyone that followed this fic to the end. I'm really grateful for your reviews. Writing a slice of life is much more difficult since we need to make daily things interesting for you guys. I'm probably not writing ryosaku anymore, so I'm happy I was able to finish this history.**


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